DRAFT 6

Somewhere
A Primer for the End of Days



by Marisela Treviño Orta

Originally commissioned and produced by Temple University’s Theater
Department, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania




















mariselaorta@gmail.com
415.939.0606

SOMEWHERE p. i

DRAFT 6

WHO
CASSANDRA 20s. POC. An entomologist. Ignored prophet. Pragmatic to a fault.
Unafraid because she finds chaos interesting, scientifically speaking.
ALEXANDER 20s. POC. An engineer once upon a time. Sarcastic and heartbroken.
Looking for something to believe in.
DIANA 20s. Former librarian. Nerdy and restless. The apocalypse really
messed up her plans for a cross country road trip.
SYBIL Early 30s. A mathematician and former self-taught accountant for
her the business she ran with EPH. DIANA’s older sister. Married to
EPH. Never met a problem she couldn’t solve…until now.
EPH 30s. POC. Former general contractor—ran his company with his
wife SYBIL. A natural leader. Expects everyone to pull their own
weight.
CORIN 20s. EPH’s former employee and right-hand man. In love with
DIANA. Quiet and watchful.

NOTE ON CASTING
While there is flexibility, and I prefer a majority POC cast, there must be at least 3
actors of color as assigned above—Cassandra, Alexander, and Eph. If you have more
actors of color, then Diana and Sybil should be the next to be portrayed by POC.

WHEN
Perhaps a different timeline than ours and things went very wrong, very fast.

WHERE
CASSANDRA’s defunct lab, a plot of desolate land that used to be a truffle farm not
far from an unnamed city in the Pacific Northwest, a desolate highway in Montana,
and a beach on the Pacific Ocean.

PUNCTUATION
When the “/” appears, the actor who has the next line of dialogue should begin
speaking.

The “…” is there for a reason. Make it active.

PLAYWRIGHT’S NOTE
Where does this play sit on the post-apocalyptic spectrum, you ask? If 10 is Mad Max
Fury Road, then this play is more like a 5, as in Delicatessen. All this to say that while
the world is beginning to die or transform, people for the most part are still putting
on makeup, dressing up, going to work, and attempting to maintain normalcy. This
should be reflected in their clothing, in fact they may overcompensate by dressing
more formally than you might expect—unless they are performing manual labor.
But even then, their dress might feel like a throwback to an idea of work attire. If
you are looking for inspiration see Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children. But
don’t force the whimsy. Don’t take it to Wes Andersonville. Restrained whimsy. It’s a

SOMEWHERE p. ii

DRAFT 6

thing. Make it a thing. But please, make it a whimsy informed by melancholy. It’s the
end of the world, after all.

RE THE BUTTERFLIES
I originally was thinking something along the lines of Michael Murphy’s perspective
shifting sculptures. But your best bet is to consult a puppeteer. And puppeteers
should be costumed to look like Greek goddesses/gods—in Earth-tone colors.

SOMEWHERE p. iii

DRAFT 6

ACT I, SCENE 1
A wall of sound—a cacophony of insects. We hear
insects disappear from the mass of sound until
only one insect is left. Then it goes quiet. Lights up
on a mostly dead world—reddish-brown with
shriveled plants and dust. A washed out dying
landscape. It could be the surface of Mars except
there are people still trying to live on this planet.

CASSANDRA crouches next to a fairly large
butterfly enclosure. Nearby is a generator for a
lamp that provides heat and light to the enclosure.
Inside the enclosure are the remnants of a
milkweed plant and strategically placed sticks
that currently have multiple monarch pupas
attached to them. She watches the pupas closely
and takes notes.

She speaks to someone unseen offstage.

CASSANDRA:
(Excited) Have I ever told you why I became an entomologist?

CASSANDRA looks to the offstage unseen person to
see if they’ll respond. They don’t.

CASSANDRA:
It was that movie Them—you remember, the one with the giant ants. Dad loved that
movie.

It holds up. By B movie standards, anyway.

That was when I first learned that ants have a queen—I loved that. That they had an
entire society—colony, rather—with jobs. All working together. Living together in
perfect harmony.

Then I went through my dragonfly phase. Dragonfly stationary. Dragonfly earrings.
Did you know the largest insect ever was a sort of prehistoric dragonfly?
Meganeuropsis. A griffinfly, really. With a wingspan of 28 inches. That was before
the dinosaurs when O2 levels were at 35%. Insects don’t have lungs so oxygen levels
are important to them.

Dad of course liked that I was taking an interest in something. He encouraged it. He
sent me to that bug camp at the university and the rest, as they say, is history.

BEAT as she reviews her notes.

SOMEWHERE p. 1

DRAFT 6

CASSANDRA:
Now, of course, I’m all about butterflies.

CASSANDRA takes a look around at her defunct
lab and sighs.

CASSANDRA:
I did a hell of job running this lab, if I do say so myself. It says something that our
breeding program was still successful when everything was dying out. But a good
thing can only last for so long.

She looks at the pupa.

CASSANDRA:
Any day now.

Here they are, soon to be the last monarch butterflies in the entire world.

That we know of, at least.

I mean ours were the only larvae that hatched so it stands to reason...And the other
labs didn’t report anything before the grid went down. No viable eggs. Then
everything went dark. That’s when our babies began to shed their larva skins for the
last time. Driven by the impulse written into their DNA to climb and attach, to
writhe and dance their way out of their old bodies.

At least that instinct is still working. I’ll take the little victories at this point.

CASSANDRA leans towards the unseen person
she’s speaking to.

CASSANDRA leans towards the unseen person
she’s speaking to.

CASSANDRA:
(Louder) Have you started prepping the bikes?

She waits for an answer.

Nothing.

CASSANDRA:
(Almost yelling) You need to check the chains. Lubricate them. I wanna be ready at a
moment’s notice. ‘Cause once these babies hatch I want to tag and release right
away.

SOMEWHERE p. 2

DRAFT 6

CASSANDRA (cont’):
Paris?

Paris?!

ALEXANDER enters with a camping backpack
that’s mostly packed.

ALEXANDER:
Your coworkers were slobs.

CASSANDRA:
They aren’t slobs.

ALEXANDER:
There’s food left out like they just got up and walked away mid meal.

CASSANDRA:
Some of them did.

ALEXANDER:
Well, it’s gross and kinda spooky.

CASSANDRA:
The Carroll A. Deering.

ALEXANDER:
What’s that?

CASSANDRA:
A famous ghost ship. It ran aground off North Carolina in 1921. The crew was
nowhere to be found and in the galley they found food as if the next meal was being
prepared.

ALEXANDER:
I was always partial to the Mary Celeste.

CASSANDRA:
Much more well known, yes. They also had food, but it wasn’t laid out for a meal.

ALEXANDER:
You and your memory.

CASSANDRA:
All this to say, when the university cancelled classes for the foreseeable future, most
people wanted to be home with their families. So they left.

SOMEWHERE p. 3

DRAFT 6

ALEXANDER:
In a hurry.

CASSANDRA:
Yes, in a hurry.

ALEXANDER nods and starts to walk off stage.

CASSANDRA:
Paris, stay. I’m talking to you.

ALEXANDER:
I told you not to call me that.

CASSANDRA:
…That’s what Mom called you.

ALEXANDER:
Mom’s dead.

ALEXANDER sees how his words hit his sister.

ALEXANDER:
That’s what you said, right?

CASSANDRA:
You said you didn’t believe me.

ALEXANDER:
I lied.

Call me by my middle name.

ALEXANDER leaves the backpack on the ground
and begins to leave.

CASSANDRA:
Alexander.

ALEXANDER stops.

ALEXANDER:
What?

CASSANDRA:
I tried to get her to leave.

SOMEWHERE p. 4

DRAFT 6

ALEXANDER:
I know.

ALEXANDER exits and shortly after re-enters with
a second backpack that he’s in the process of
packing. He also brings an REI sleeping bag that
looks like a human cocoon. He begins to fold the
sleeping bag. CASSANDRA watches him.

CASSANDRA:
(Eventually) She wanted to stay in the city.

ALEXANDER:
She was looking for her dog.

CASSANDRA:
There aren’t any more dogs.

ALEXANDER:
I know. But she was still looking for him. Posting fliers around the neighborhood
when it was probably one of her neighbors that served him up for dinner.

CASSANDRA:
People are desperate.

ALEXANDER:
People are assholes.

CASSANDRA:
(Eventually) Do you regret coming here?

ALEXANDER:
I regret everything.

I never recycled. I let the water run when I brushed my teeth. I never remembered
to bring my own bag to the grocery store. I loved the wrong people. Drove in the
HOV lane when I was alone.

CASSANDRA:
Did you tell Helen you loved her?

ALEXANDER pauses to think about how to
respond.

SOMEWHERE p. 5

DRAFT 6

ALEXANDER:
…It wasn’t love. It was hot and heavy. All animal attraction. Well, the animals are all
dying out. Makes sense that our love would, too.

She went back to her ex.

CASSANDRA:
Oh.

ALEXANDER:
And then you called. Thank gawd the phones were still working. The line literally
went dead after you hung up.

CASSANDRA:
Thank gawd you were there.

ALEXANDER:
You would’ve found me no matter where I was. You always know how to find me.

CASSANDRA:
It’s a gift.

ALEXANDER:
I thought it was a curse.

CASSANDRA:
No, the curse is no one ever believes me.

ALEXANDER:
But I do.

CASSANDRA:
Yes, well, it’s too late to do anything about it, so it doesn’t count.

ALEXANDER:
If it’s too late, then why do this? Why tag and release?

CASSANDRA:
Because that’s what’s written into our DNA.

If they aren’t going to Mexico like they’re supposed to, then we need to know exactly
where they’re migrating to. Maybe they’ve rewritten their genetic code. Forged a
new migration pattern to some place new. Some place safe.

BEAT as he rolls the sleeping bag and she watches
the pupa.

SOMEWHERE p. 6

DRAFT 6

ALEXANDER:
How far do you think we’ll ride?

CASSANDRA:
I dunno. Their usual path was about 3,000 miles.

ALEXANDER:
(Incredulous) You’re kidding, right? We can’t do that.

CASSANDRA:
We’re both in good shape.

ALEXANDER:
It’s not about physical fitness.

CASSANDRA:
And they might not travel that far.

ALEXANDER:
That would take weeks, maybe months. We can’t carry food for months. We don’t
have food for months.

CASSANDRA:
I’ve seen it, Paris.

ALEXANDER:
Alexander. I said to call me—

CASSANDRA:
Alexander. I’ve seen it. We find it. The place they go to.

ALEXANDER:
When?

CASSANDRA:
That I can’t see. But we get there.

ALEXANDER:
Don’t bullshit me.

CASSANDRA:
I’m not making it up. We get there. To the place with butterflies.

ALEXANDER:
And what do we find there.

SOMEWHERE p. 7

DRAFT 6

CASSANDRA:
A new beginning.

ALEXANDER:
And here I thought this was the end of the world.

CASSANDRA:
End. Beginning. They often look the same.

ALEXANDER:
I could use a new beginning.

CASSANDRA:
Better than dying your hair again.

ALEXANDER:
(Protesting) I did that once. In Jr. High.

CASSANDRA:
Who was it that broke you heart that time?

ALEXANDER:
Who remembers?

CASSANDRA:
Shouldn’t you?

ALEXANDER:
Can we please change the subject?

CASSANDRA:
I agree, closure is over rated.

ALEXANDER:
That’s not what I said.

CASSANDRA notices that one of the butterflies is
beginning to hatch.

CASSANDRA:
Look! Look! They’re beginning to hatch.

ALEXANDER joins his sister by the butterfly
enclosure.

SOMEWHERE p. 8

DRAFT 6

ALEXANDER:
Where?

CASSANDRA:
There!

BEAT as they watch.

CASSANDRA:
Did you know 85% of insects undergo a complete metamorphosis? You know what
that is, right?

ALEXANDER:
How can I not with you always lecturing / at me.

CASSANDRA:
/ Egg, larva, pupa, and adult. And our babies—

ALEXANDER:
(Correcting) Your babies.

CASSANDRA:
My babies are about to enter the final stage.

Sometimes I wonder if the larva knows it’s going to change into something else. Or,
maybe it thinks it’s dying. The pupa its death shroud. And from the inside it must
seem like its world is coming to an end, but really it’s about to be reborn. It’s the
world that’s dying. The world of crawling on your belly. And when it’s reborn it’s
into a world of flight and wind. A world so different from the ground it once knew.

BEAT.

ALEXANDER:
What happens to the other 15%?

CASSANDRA:
Huh?

ALEXANDER:
The 15% of insects that don’t undergo complete metamorphosis?

CASSANDRA:
Those are mostly the flightless insects. They undergo an incomplete
metamorphosis—just three stages. Most of them will live and die in the same small
acre of dirt.

SOMEWHERE p. 9

DRAFT 6

ALEXANDER:
An acre isn’t that small.

CASSANDRA:
Oh, but it is, brother. It most certainly is.

Lights shift.

SOMEWHERE p. 10

DRAFT 6

ACT I, SCENE 2

An old cabin on what remains of a run-down farm.
On the porch stands an old green chalkboard on
wheels. On the chalkboard are diagrams: the
golden spiral and the food chain which includes—
starting from the bottom: Producers (plants),
Primary Consumers, Secondary Consumers,
Tertiary Consumers, Apex Predators (US)
accompanied by a stick figure human. The word
“Primary Consumers” has a line crossed through
it.

Standing on the porch is SYBIL with her
binoculars, looking up and out.

In front of the porch, DIANA kneels over her very
dying vegetable garden. She takes off her
gardening gloves in defeat.

DIANA:
Nothing. It didn’t work.

DIANA looks over at SYBIL to see if her sister
heard her.

DIANA:
I said, it didn’t work.

SYBIL:
…Are you sure?

DIANA:
We should’ve seen the fast-growing veggies weeks ago.

SYBIL puts down her binoculars and gives DIANA
her full attention.

SYBIL:
I told you it was a long shot. Pollination requires pollinators.

DIANA:
(Frustrated) I was the pollinator!

(Dejected) All that time on my hands and knees with those stupid Q-tips. It was
supposed to work. It should have worked.

SOMEWHERE p. 11

DRAFT 6

SYBIL:
Hey, at least you tried.

DIANA:
But it wasn’t enough. Maybe there’s something wrong with the plants or the soil…or
everything.

DIANA kicks at the soil and creates a small cloud
of dust. SYBIL notices.

SYBIL:
What’s wrong?

DIANA:
I wish back in October I had known I was eating the last tomato I was ever gonna
eat.

SYBIL:
Why don’t you go do a count of the rations?

SYBIL resumes looking out with the binoculars.

DIANA:
I did that two days ago.

SYBIL:
And now I need an update. I want my calculations to be accurate.

DIANA:
How can they be accurate if you’re working off estimates?

SYBIL:
The only estimates are the food we hunt and forage. Rations are a known quantity /
if we count them.

DIANA:
/There won’t be much to hunt or forage pretty soon.

SYBIL puts down her binoculars in frustration,
clearly DIANA isn’t done with this conversation.

SYBIL:
That’s why I’m doing my calculations.

DIANA:
X number of people—

SOMEWHERE p. 12

DRAFT 6

SYBIL:
There are four of us.

DIANA:
Eating X amount each day.

SYBIL:
We have meal plans.

DIANA:
Traveling at 67,000 miles per hour. How long until they starve to death?

SYBIL:
…67,000 miles per hour?

DIANA:
That’s how fast the Earth travels through space.

SYBIL:
Really?

DIANA:
At least according to the encyclopedia.

SYBIL:
I hope that’s not the first time you’ve cracked it open—Eph still complains about
how much space those books took on the truck.

DIANA:
(Insistent) Books take up space.

SYBIL:
But did we really need to bring an entire set?

DIANA:
I brought books that I thought would come in handy and encyclopedias…have a lot
of general knowledge…about everything…generally speaking.

SYBIL:
But they’re not that useful.
Once again SYBIL resumes looking out her
binoculars with the hopes the conversation is
finished and she can continue with her work.

SOMEWHERE p. 13

DRAFT 6

DIANA:
I think the idea of “useful” changes regularly. The bread book was useful when we
still had flour. The gardening book was useful until today.

Why didn’t anyone tell me the apocalypse would be boring.

SYBIL:
Why don’t you go read?

DIANA:
I finished it. I’m waiting another few days before I start over again. Do you know
how many times I’ve read it since we got here? I did the math. Twenty-two times.
Twenty-two. Once, I even read it backwards just to change things up.

SYBIL:
Each word backwards?

DIANA:
No. Chapter. But my point is, even my favorite book is beginning to become rote.
Rote? Is that the right word?

SYBIL:
(Getting frustrated) Will you please go count the rations?

DIANA:
I don’t like it down there. It’s dark.

SYBIL:
Then use a candle or a flashlight.

DIANA:
You know I can’t. They’re for night emergencies only.

SYBIL:
Well, this is a day emergency. I need you to either go count the rations or be quiet.

DIANA:
(Mumbling) I can be quiet.

SYBIL:
Shh!!! I’m listening.

A long BEAT as they both listen intently.

There is no discernable sound.

SOMEWHERE p. 14

DRAFT 6

DIANA:
(Eventually) What are we listening for?

SYBIL continues to listen. DIANA gives her another
moment.

DIANA:
Sybil, I don’t hear anything.

SYBIL:
How long have you not heard anything?

I haven’t heard a bird all week. Have you?

DIANA:
I dunno. I wasn’t listening for them.

SYBIL takes out her field journal and examines her
notes.

SYBIL:
No bird sightings, no bird sounds. Yep, in over a week.

DIANA:
What’s that mean?

SYBIL:
If there are no small birds then the birds of prey will be next.

SYBIL goes to the chalkboard and crosses out
“Secondary Consumers.”

SYBIL:
Time is running out for medium sized animals and apex predators.

DIANA:
It’s happening faster than you thought.

SYBIL:
I told you they were estimates.

SYBIL flips the chalkboard over to reveal a mess of
math equations. She wipes some of the figures and
begins to work on a new equation.

SOMEWHERE p. 15

DRAFT 6

DIANA watches for a moment and then begins to

rip out the plants in her garden and put them into
her nearby gardening basket. SYBIL notices.

SYBIL:
What are you doing?

DIANA:
The greens are still edible. If this garden is over, then we’re gonna enjoy one last
salad while it’s still fresh.

After DIANA pulls up all of the garden greens, she
stares at the ground intensely and then
surreptitiously digs a hole. She takes off her metal
wrist watch. She buries it. SYBIL doesn’t notice.

EPH and CORIN enter. They carry hand shovels
and buckets. The men are grimy from digging.
EPH notices the torn-up garden. CORIN watches
DIANA.

EPH:
What’s all this?

SYBIL:
It’s over. No more tomatoes.

DIANA:
Or cucumber or lettuce or potatoes.

EPH:
Damn.

SYBIL:
How’d you make out?

EPH:
One bucket between the two of us.

SYBIL:
That’s all?

EPH:
We also found some other mushrooms growing on the trees. That’s what Corin’s
carrying. But we need to identify them—figure out if they’re edible.

SOMEWHERE p. 16

DRAFT 6

SYBIL:
Let’s hope.

EPH:
But if we want truffles we’ll have to start digging on the next row.

SYBIL:
See any wildlife? Any birds?

EPH:
No wildlife. Pretty quiet out there.

SYBIL:
What about you, Corin? Hear anything?

CORIN:
Nothing. Except for us.

You okay, Diana?

DIANA:
I’m okay. Just sad that the garden is finished.

SYBIL:
You didn’t have to pull it all out.

DIANA:
I didn’t want to watch it turn brown and shrivel…I’m gonna miss this patch of green.

EPH:
(Joking) If you wanna get creative You could always use that can of paint we found
in the truck.

SYBIL:
I still don’t know how that ended up there.

EPH:
Left there from the Monroe renovation. We used that green for the living room. It
was called “Back to my Home” green.

SYBIL:
Who comes up with these names?
EPH:
No one anymore.

Come on, Corin. Let’s clean today’s haul.

SOMEWHERE p. 17

DRAFT 6

EPH and CORIN exit. DIANA waits until they’re out

of earshot before speaking.

DIANA:
I hate mushrooms.

SYBIL:
They’re truffles.

DIANA:
Truffles are mushrooms.

SYBIL:
Mushrooms don’t need pollination. Mushrooms are the reason we’re able to make
our rations last longer.

DIANA:
I still hate them. It’s a texture thing.

SYBIL:
I hate starving. It’s a hunger thing. And you may not like mushrooms, but at least
they’re year-round. Do you realize how fortunate we are?

DIANA:
I know, I know.

SYBIL:
Oregon Black, Oregon Brown, Winter White, Spring White, French Black.

DIANA:
What makes “French Black” French exactly?

SYBIL:
Don’t ask silly questions. And don’t complain about the truffles in front of Corin.

DIANA:
I’m not!

BEAT.

DIANA:
What are we doing here?

SYBIL:
We’re waiting for things to turn back on. For Society to come back from the brink.

SOMEWHERE p. 18

DRAFT 6

DIANA:
You’re kidding, right?

SYBIL:
You think this is gonna wipe us out?

DIANA:
Aren’t you the one calculating the demise of the food chain?

SYBIL:
If we’re gonna survive this we need to know how long it’s gonna last, how long ‘til it
gets really, really bad.

DIANA:
It’s all pretty bleak.

DIANA dusts herself off.

SYBIL:
Ya know, starving to death isn’t our biggest problem.

DIANA:
Oh?

SYBIL:
There’s still injury. Sickness…Murder.

DIANA:
I don’t find you that annoying.

SYBIL:
I mean other people. Marauders.

DIANA:
(Reciting) And the highway man came riding—Riding—Riding—The highway man
came riding, up to the old inn-door.

SYBIL:
I’m serious. We’ve got a good set up here and if people showed up in force they
could take it from us…or kill us for it.
DIANA:
Like I said, bleak.

DIANA gathers the garden greens and starts to
leave.

SOMEWHERE p. 19

DRAFT 6

SYBIL returns to her binoculars.

SYBIL:
Hey, have you seen my calculator? I could have sworn I left it on the porch.

DIANA:
Haven’t seen it.

SYBIL:
Diana.

DIANA:
(Defensive) I said I haven’t seen it.

SYBIL:
No, I was gonna ask…you brought medical books, right?

DIANA:
Yeah. General health stuff. First Aid. Why, do you feel sick?

SYBIL:
No, I’m just…thinking ahead.

DIANA:
It’s gonna suck this winter when we all have colds and no decongestants.

SYBIL:
Yeah.

SYBIL returns to her mathematical equations.
DIANA watches her sister for a moment and then
exits. Lights shift.

SOMEWHERE p. 20

DRAFT 6

ACT I, SCENE 3

CASSANDRA and ALEXANDER enter pushing
bicycles and wearing hiking backpacks. They are
hot and sweaty. They wear handkerchiefs over
their mouths as if to protect them from dust. They
pull down the handkerchiefs as they stop to talk.

ALEXANDER takes out a directional antenna and
receiver. He points the antenna in the direction
they’re riding. A faint repeating beep begins.

CASSANDRA puts down the kickstand on her bike
so she can unfold a map.

ALEXANDER:
They’re still heading West. We’re gonna end up in Oregon, I think.

Damn they’re moving fast.

CASSANDRA:
Some butterflies can fly thirty miles per hour. Slow ones fly 5 miles per hour.

ALEXANDER:
Do you know the odds that this system would work for long-distance tracking? It’s
kind of a miracle considering that we’re using radio waves.

CASSANDRA:
Not a miracle. Fate.

ALEXANDER:
Both strain credulity.

CASSANDRA:
The Universe has a way of doing that. Ever heard of the Big Crunch?

ALEXANDER:
Are we talking astrophysics or candy bars?

CASSANDRA:
The Big Crunch is essentially the Big Bang in reverse. The Big Bang sent matter out,
the Universe expands, moves away from the center, but eventually it will stop
expanding and then it’s gonna contract—contract so small that it’ll end in a fiery
inferno.

SOMEWHERE p. 21

DRAFT 6

ALEXANDER:
Your point being?

CASSANDRA:
The Universe likes symmetry. It likes tying up loose ends and mathematical balance.
Things that seem like coincidence are in fact preordained.

ALEXANDER:
(Sarcastically) Can the Big Crunch explain why we haven’t seen anyone on the road?

CASSANDRA:
Actually, it can.

ALEXANDER:
This should be good.

CASSANDRA:
Reverse Manifest Destiny.

ALEXANDER:
You’re using that term wrong.

CASSANDRA:
I know. But it’s a nice name and nice idea—if it were literal. But you get my drift.

ALEXANDER:
(Re “drift”) No one says that anymore.

CASSANDRA:
Manifest Destiny had a positive feeling—hope, new horizons.

ALEXANDER:
(Correcting) A positive feeling for White settlers.

CASSANDRA:
Yes, yes. All true. But the term has become short-hand for movement across the
continent. Now that a sense of doom—for lack of a better word—

ALEXANDER:
Actually, that’s a pretty good word for it.

CASSANDRA:
Yes, well, now that a sense of doom has settled in, people are retreating. Returning
to their childhood homes, connecting with their parents—

SOMEWHERE p. 22

DRAFT 6

ALEXANDER:
Old lovers.

CASSANDRA:
—in an attempt to hold on.

ALEXANDER:
“Hold on” or simply wanting to spend their last days with loved ones.

CASSANDRA:
Not everyone loves their family.

ALEXANDER:
Agreed. Dee is kind of an asshole.

CASSANDRA looks quizzically at ALEXANDER.

ALEXANDER:
He hit on Helen when I introduced them. And then I hit him.

CASSANDRA:
How very alpha male of you.

ALEXANDER:
I sprained my wrist if that makes you feel better.

BEAT as CASSANDRA studies the map.
ALEXANDER takes a look around.

ALEXANDER:
Damn this dust.

CASSANDRA:
No insects. No pollination. No plants.

ALEXANDER:
Nothing to hold down the top soil. I know. Dust Bowl 2.0, right?

CASSANDRA:
Right.

It looks like there’s a city coming up.

ALEXANDER:
No cities.

SOMEWHERE p. 23

DRAFT 6

CASSANDRA:
Going around adds more time.

ALEXANDER:
No cities.

CASSANDRA:
We’ve been biking for more than a week now. And each time we come close to a
city,/ you make us go around it.

ALEXANDER:
/ I’m not sure these qualify as cities.

CASSANDRA:
But you never offer a rational explanation as to why.

ALEXANDER:
The fewer people we run into the better.

CASSANDRA:
We’re gonna need food soon.

ALEXANDER:
They’ve got a weird vibe.

CASSANDRA:
(Re “vibe”) Do people still say that?

ALEXANDER:
People are still trying to maintain some type of normalcy. Putting on make-up, going
to work even though there’s no electricity.

CASSANDRA:
That’s not true. We saw some lights on the other evening.

ALEXANDER:
That house probably had a generator. Or they rigged something to power their
lights. Some poor asshole is probably on a stationary bike just so they can have
lights on at night.

CASSANDRA:
Don’t be so harsh. He’s probably a fellow engineer.

ALEXANDER:
I’m also an asshole, but at least when I turn my pedals I’m moving forward and
putting the past behind me.

SOMEWHERE p. 24

DRAFT 6

CASSANDRA:
Seriously though. We need to go into a city—

ALEXANDER:
(Correcting) Town.

CASSANDRA:
We need provisions.

ALEXANDER:
Don’t say “provisions” it sounds like we’re playing Oregon Trail. / And the survival
rate was always abysmal.

CASSANDRA:
/ Supplies, then.

ALEXANDER:
You have typhoid.

CASSANDRA:
I’m glad your sense of humor is still intact.

ALEXANDER:
It’s just morbid.

ALEXANDER takes out his water bottle and
squeezes water into his mouth. He offers it to
CASSANDRA. She does the same, but very little
water comes out.

CASSANDRA:
It’s empty.

ALEXANDER:
Spectacular.

CASSANDRA:
(Determined) We’re going into the next town. We need water.

ALEXANDER:
Fine. But stay close. Don’t join a cult or get a gym membership. We get in, we get out.
We keep moving forward.

ALEXANDER gets ready to ride. CASSANDRA
doesn’t.

SOMEWHERE p. 25

DRAFT 6

ALEXANDER:
What?

CASSANDRA:
Tell me what you saw? Or, what you expect us to see in town.

ALEXANDER:
What good are prophetic abilities if you can’t answer your own questions?

CASSANDRA:
That’s not how it works.

ALEXANDER:
Then how does it work?

CASSANDRA:
(Pressing) Tell me.

What? Are they eating each other?

ALEXANDER:
Not yet. I don’t think.

CASSANDRA:
Then what?

ALEXANDER:
It’s better if you see it for yourself.

CASSANDRA:
Now you want me to see it?

ALEXANDER:
I just…how do you describe something entirely new? What if all the old words just
seem…inadequate. You can’t comprehend it. When the Aztecs first saw Spanish
ships sailing along their coast they called them floating mountains.

CASSANDRA:
“Floating mountains,” I quite like that.

ALEXANDER:
Well, it didn’t turn out so good for the Aztecs.

CASSANDRA:
We’re gonna make it to the coast. Don’t worry. Both of us. We get there.

SOMEWHERE p. 26

DRAFT 6

ALEXANDER:
Then what?

CASSANDRA:
I dunno, but I have a good feeling about it.

I wouldn’t lie to you.

ALEXANDER:
I know.

CASSANDRA:
Come on. Let’s get some food and water.

ALEXANDER:
(Teasing) Provisions?

CASSANDRA:
Provisions. And then we’ll continue on our trail.

They ride off. Lights shift.

SOMEWHERE p. 27

DRAFT 6

ACT I, SCENE 4

A trench, deep enough to require a ladder to get
out. EPH, CORIN, SYBIL, and DIANA stand inside it
examining the dirt walls. DIANA spies CORIN’s
flashlight. Surreptitiously she pockets it.

SYBIL:
I’m confused. Why did you dig this deep?

EPH:
Because we were following these—these tendrils. Trying to figure out how deep
they were, if they were all connected.

He uses a flashlight to point out shoestring like
fibers that extrude from the dirt walls.

EPH:
They’re not roots.

SYBIL:
You sure?

CORIN:
I’m sure. And I know this farm. I’ve never seen anything like them before.

DIANA:
What kind of trees are on the farm?

CORIN:
(Insistent) These aren’t Birch roots. This is something else.

SYBIL:
What then?

EPH:
That’s what we need to figure out. Because whatever this is, I think it’s the reason
why we’re not finding as many truffles as we used to.

(To DIANA) Do you think any of your books might be able to help with this?

DIANA:
Maybe.

SOMEWHERE p. 28

DRAFT 6

EPH:
(Frustrated) Maybe? The whole reason we let you take up space on the truck with
your library books was because you said they were necessary for surviving out here.
And now you’re telling me they’re useless?

DIANA:
I didn’t say that.

EPH:
Then what are you saying?

DIANA:
(Defensive) Hey. I made the best educated guess I could about what we’d need.

EPH:
“Educated guess?” We could’ve brought more rations instead of your books.

DIANA:
Figuring out what that is—if it’s some sort of blight, or whatever—would require
more than just books. Maybe the problem is this plan of yours.

SYBIL:
(With authority) Enough you two.

EPH and DIANA back off.

SYBIL:
(To DIANA) Eph was right to get us out of town.

And maybe there is something in your books, Diana. Will you at least take a look?

DIANA:
Fine. I’ll look.

SYBIL:
In the meantime, Eph and Corin will keep digging. See how far this stuff goes.

DIANA disappears up the ladder and exits. CORIN
examines the tendrils, finds several flat skipping
stones that he dusts off and pockets. SYBIL tries to
soothe EPH.

SYBIL:
What was that?

SOMEWHERE p. 29

DRAFT 6

EPH:
What was what?

SYBIL:
You’re stressed. Diana is contributing the best way she knows how.

EPH:
Well, maybe she could contribute with a little manual labor. The problem with her is
that she thinks being a librarian is a sort of skill.

SYBIL:
It was a skill.

EPH:
The operative word there is “was.” She’s living in the past.

SYBIL finds her way into EPH’s embrace.

SYBIL:
She’s adjusting. We all are.

EPH relaxes and holds SYBIL.

EPH:
Ya think this will affect your calculations?

SYBIL:
Yes. It will.

SYBIL glances at CORIN. She pulls EPH out of
CORIN’s earshot.

SYBIL:
Have you told Corin?

EPH:
I will when there’s something to tell him.

SYBIL:
You’re not changing your mind, are you?

EPH:
I didn’t say that. But I think it’ll be easier to ask for forgiveness instead of
permission.

SOMEWHERE p. 30

DRAFT 6

SYBIL:
Right. That makes sense.

SYBIL disappears up the ladder and exits. EPH
notices CORIN crouching in the trench.

EPH:
Whatcha got there Corin?

CORIN:
Just rocks.

EPH:
Too bad there’s no such thing as stone soup.

CORIN:
Wasn’t that a story?

EPH:
Yeah, but it was a ruse. The travelers tricked the villagers into offering up real food.
That was the point of the story.

CORIN:
Oh.

The men begin to dig at the trench walls to expose
more tendrils.

CORIN:
I was always more partial to Greek myths. My fourth-grade English teacher spent
the entire year reading them to us. She thought it would expand our idea of the
world.

EPH:
Did it?

CORIN:
It made me want to leave this place. Made me want to be more than a truffle farmer
like my father.

EPH:
(Sarcastic) That worked out.

CORIN:
It did until it didn’t.

SOMEWHERE p. 31

DRAFT 6

They dig.

EPH:
What Greek myths?

CORIN:
What?

EPH:
You said you were partial to Greek myths. What Greek myths?

CORIN:
Sisyphus.

EPH:
(Ew) I think they can treat that with Penicillin.

CORIN:
Screw you.

EPH:
Not until you get treated.

BEAT as they dig and excavate the tendrils.

EPH:
Sisyphus. That was the guy with the boulder, right?

CORIN:
That’s him. That was his punishment. To push a boulder to the top of a hill and
watch it fall back to the bottom. He had to do that for eternity.

EPH:
What did he do?

CORIN:
Whattya mean?

EPH:
You said it was a punishment.

CORIN:
I dunno. Maybe Diana knows.

EPH:
You mean maybe one of her books’ll tell her.

SOMEWHERE p. 32

DRAFT 6

CORIN:
Why do you always give her a hard time?

EPH:
She gives herself a hard time.

CORIN:
Meaning?

EPH:
She puts too much importance on those books of hers.

CORIN:
She figured out how to bake bread from scratch with those books. I don’t recall you
complaining about eating homemade bread.

EPH:
Where’s her bread now?

CORIN:
Are you gonna blame all this on her?

EPH:
Not all of it.

CORIN:
Just some of it?

EPH:
She was always looking down her nose at what I did for a living. What we did
required precision. Skill. And what real skill does a librarian need? Anyone can
stamp books and put them on shelves.

CORIN:
Sounds like you’re still holding a grudge.

EPH:
Everybody’s gotta have a hobby.

What’s yours, Corin? Defending Diana? I see the way you look at her.

CORIN:
How do I look at her?

EPH:
Like someone ready to make a fool of himself.

SOMEWHERE p. 33

DRAFT 6

CORIN:
No such thing.

EPH:
What was that?

CORIN:
Nothing.

The men continue to dig. Lights shift.

SOMEWHERE p. 34

DRAFT 6

ACT I, SCENE 5

DIANA enters furtively with a flashlight. She
makes sure no one is around and then finds a spot
on the side of the cabin where she begins to dig. As
she’s digging the small hole SYBIL comes out onto
the porch and stretches.

DIANA hears SYBIL walking along the porch of the
house—the creaking floorboards—and furiously
finishes burying the flashlight. She finishes just as
SYBIL rounds the corner and sees her sister.
DIANA quickly stands tries to shake/wipe the dirt
from her hands.

SYBIL:
…What are you doing?

DIANA:
Nothing.

SYBIL:
Doesn’t look like nothing.

DIANA:
I was looking for a button.

SYBIL:
(Doubtful) A button?

DIANA:
Yeah. I dropped it.

SYBIL:
You’re wearing a t-shirt.

DIANA:
It fell off another blouse.

SYBIL isn’t buying it and stares at her sister to see
if DIANA will cave.

SYBIL:
Seriously, you’re not gonna tell me what you’re really up to?

SOMEWHERE p. 35

DRAFT 6

DIANA:
I’m not up to anything. I had a hard time seeing it and ended up digging around a bit.
That’s all.

SYBIL:
Let’s see it. This button of yours.

DIANA:
(Defensive) You don’t believe me.

SYBIL:
Uh, yeah.

DIANA walks past SYBIL.

SYBIL:
Where are you going?

DIANA:
(Emphatically) To sew on the button.

SYBIL:
Sure. Whatever.

You know I’m gonna figure it out, right? I always do.

DIANA returns.

DIANA:
That’s ‘cause you always have me on a leash. Can’t you just give me some space?

SYBIL:
You have the whole farm.

DIANA:
Do I?!

SYBIL:
You’re not mad at me, you’re mad at our predicament.

DIANA:
No, I’m mad at you. You’re the reason I’m stuck on this farm.

SOMEWHERE p. 36

DRAFT 6

SYBIL:
Are you complaining about eating three square meals a day? About having a safe
place to lay your head at night? I get it—it’s boring. We have chores all the time,
every day. But you have to see the bigger picture.

DIANA:
What bigger picture?

SYBIL:
That we’re together.

Do you know how many people are stranded far away from their families? Stuck on
the other side of the country—on the other side of the world. You and I are lucky.
We know. We’re safe. Together. We can have a life here.

DIANA:
Eating mushrooms?! Do you know what your precious food chain says about
mushrooms? They’re decomposers. Feeding on the dead. What’s that make us?

SYBIL:
Survivors.

DIANA:
And what exactly are we surviving for?

SYBIL:
The future. Yours. Mine. All of ours. We’re gonna be around long after most people
are gone.

DIANA:
What good is it to be the last people on earth if everything that was good and
beautiful and green is gone?

SYBIL:
It’ll come back. I know right now it doesn’t look like it will, but it will.

DIANA:
You keep telling yourself that, if it makes you feel better. But the truth is we’re living
on a soon-to-be dead rock.

Ya know, it was always a kind of miracle that there was life on this planet. Just the
right distance away from just-the-right-sized star. Water. Oxygen. Carbon. Nitrogen.
And lots of luck. Too bad the smartest species on the planet turned out to be the
most selfish.

DIANA heads into the house.

SOMEWHERE p. 37

DRAFT 6

SYBIL:
Diana…

DIANA:
Let me be, Sybil. I just wanna be alone with my book. At least I can still read about
gardens and green things and everything else that’s gone.

After DIANA leaves SYBIL makes her way to the
side of the house and pushes the dirt around with
her shoe. She uncovers the flashlight.

SYBIL:
What the hell?

Lights shift.

SOMEWHERE p. 38

DRAFT 6

ACT I, SCENE 6

Nighttime. CASSANDRA and ALEXANDER walk
their bicycles in and park them for the night.
ALEXANDER stands with his directional antenna
and receiver. The beeping is clear and steady.

ALEXANDER:
They’re holding steady.

CASSANDRA:
Good.

ALEXANDER puts away his directional antenna
and receiver. The siblings begin to get ready for
sleep, pulling out their sleeping bags which they
lie on top of since it’s warm out.

ALEXANDER:
It’s a good thing butterflies sleep.

CASSANDRA:
(Teasing) Why do you insist on using words incorrectly?

ALEXANDER:
I know, I know. They don’t really sleep. Not like mammals.

CASSANDRA:
They can’t even close their eyes because they don’t have any eyelids.

ALEXANDER:
Please don’t turn this into a lecture.

CASSANDRA:
I won’t.

How far do you think it is to the coast?

ALEXANDER:
Dunno. I’d have to check the map.

CASSANDRA:
Guess.

ALEXANDER:
Maybe less than ten days.

SOMEWHERE p. 39

DRAFT 6

ALEXANDER (cont’):
That’s where they’re leading us, right?

CASSANDRA:
Yeah. Straight to the Pacific.

ALEXANDER:
We won’t be able to bike across the ocean.

CASSANDRA:
I don’t think we’ll have to.

ALEXANDER:
Good.

A BEAT while they look at the stars.

ALEXANDER:
(Abruptly) Do you mean you’ve seen more? Of your vision?

CASSANDRA:
A little. Not much. Nothing to get excited about.

BEAT while ALEXANDER waits for CASSANDRA to
say more. She doesn’t. She might be falling asleep.

ALEXANDER:
(Urgently) Well?

CASSANDRA:
Well, what?

ALEXANDER:
All we do is bike. Eight to twelve hours a day. I haven’t been so tired or ripped in my
entire life. We’ve got no one but each other for company or conversation. So you’re
gonna tell me about your vision. All of it. Every last detail because I am tired and
bored out of my mind.

CASSANDRA:
You’ve always been needy.

ALEXANDER:
What?!

SOMEWHERE p. 40

DRAFT 6

CASSANDRA:
Maybe it’s the result of having too many siblings. Always fighting for attention.
Always asking mother for a bedtime story.

ALEXANDER:
Never mind.

No, you know what—that’s bullshit, Cassandra. I left Mom to come help you. I’m the
only one who ever believes you when you have one of your visions. The least you
can do is let me in on all of it. The least you can do is assure me that I made the right
decision.

ALEXANDER turns on his side to go to sleep. A
BEAT while CASSANDRA waits and watches.

As CASSANDRA tells the story of her vision,
ALEXANDER slowly turns around to listen.

CASSANDRA:
(Finally) The dream begins with the sound of waves crashing against the shore.

The sound of ocean waves hitting the shore. The
far-off sound of a seagull cry.

CASSANDRA:
Then I feel the sand between my toes. I can hear the faint cry of a seagull. And then
finally I can see. I see the Pacific. I know what you’re thinking—how do I know it’s
the Pacific. I just know. That how this works.

Then the ocean and beach recede. Or maybe it’s us, we’re moving backwards as if
pulled by some strange tide. Back into a forest filled with dead things.

The sounds of the ocean and beach fade. New
sounds: a tree creaking, wood expanding—sounds
of an empty forest.

CASSANDRA:
This is the new part.

There’s a smell. Something earthy. Like digging through a garden. Soil upturned. I
think it’s someplace we have to go before we can get to our final destination. I don’t
know why but that’s what my gut tells me. It’s our last stop before we reach the
shore.

SOMEWHERE p. 41

DRAFT 6

CASSANDRA (cont’):
And then…I’m back at the beach and there’s this feeling of rising, like we’re way
above sea level. I don’t know how to describe it. I don’t’ see it. I feel it—a nervous
stomach, like butterflies.

ALEXANDER:
Hardy, har, har.

CASSANDRA:
You wanted to know.

ALEXANDER:
Is that it?

CASSANDRA:
Sort of.

ALEXANDER:
WELL?

CASSANDRA:
It’s not part of the vision per se. But I keep thinking about the word “ascension.”
Especially when I think of that moment—the nervous-butterflies moment.

A moment.

ALEXANDER:
Thank you.

A BEAT as they lie in silence.

ALEXANDER:
What do you think happened to them? Our brothers and sisters?

CASSANDRA:
I try not to think about them lest I see something.

ALEXANDER:
…And you’re positive Mom is…

CASSANDRA:
I’m positive.

You were meant to come with me and she was meant to stay.

SOMEWHERE p. 42

DRAFT 6

ALEXANDER:
I just feel like I could’ve done more.

CASSANDRA:
She wouldn’t’ve made this trip. On bikes.

ALEXANDER:
I know…

CASSANDRA:
You can’t save everybody. Sometimes we can’t even save ourselves.

BEAT as ALEXANDER accepts this and settles
down to sleep.

ALEXANDER:
At least there are still stars.

CASSANDRA:
At least there are still stars.

ALEXANDER sings the opening lines of “Moon
River” as sung by Andy Williams.

ALEXANDER:
(Singing) Moon river, wider than a mile
I'm crossing you in style some day
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you're going, I'm going your way

CASSANDRA joins him in singing.

ALEXANDER/CASSANDRA:
(Singing) Two drifters, off to see the world
There's such a lot of world to see
We're after the same rainbow's end, waiting, round the bend
My Huckleberry Friend, Moon River, and me…

ALEXANDER:
(Eventually) Goodnight, Cassandra.

CASSANDRA:
Goodnight, Alexander.

Lights shift.

SOMEWHERE p. 43

DRAFT 6

ACT I, SCENE 7

Night on the farm.

By moonlight CORIN enters whistling and carrying
a can of green paint and a bucket of skipping
stones. He sets himself up next to a stool.

He sits, takes a stone from his pocket and
meticulously paints it green. He finishes and takes
another stone to paint it. He repeats this. He
whistles until the music begins playing.

In her own space on the farm DIANA reads and
then digs a hole. She buries an encyclopedia.

In another space on the farm EPH and SYBIL sit
close to one another holding hands sharing a beer.
From his shirt pocket EPH takes out a cassette
tape and shows it to SYBIL. He gets up and picks
up a small boombox. He inserts the tape, pushes
the play button, and a song begins: Norah Jones’
rendition of “Unchained Melody” by The Righteous
Brothers.

EPH stands and pulls SYBIL to her feet. They slow
dance.

CORIN takes the bucket of green stones and the
new stones to the spot that was DIANA’s garden.
He arranges the stones into a geometric pattern—
a sort of intricate spiral akin to Matthew
Harding’s Phyllotaxis sculpture, but with height as
he carefully balances stones on top of one another.

EPH and SYBIL kiss. They walk off stage hand in
hand.

CORIN finishes his project and exits.

DIANA finishes burying the books and something
catches her eye. A monarch butterfly.

DIANA approaches the butterfly. The song ends
Lights shift. End of Act I.

SOMEWHERE p. 44

DRAFT 6

ACT II, SCENE 1

Morning on the farm. SYBIL enters from the cabin
out onto the porch with her cup of tea. A moment
as she enjoys what might be her last tea bag. She
sees something on the horizon and looks around
for her binoculars.

Just as she grabs her binoculars, she then spots the
green stones left by CORIN. She finds the gesture
lovely.

She approaches the sculpture, kneels down next to
the stones, picks one up to inspect it.

SYBIL:
“Back to my Home” green. Well how ‘bout that. Eph was right, he’s a romantic.

DIANA (offstage):
Sybil!

She restores the stone.

SYBIL:
Diana, you gotta see this.

DIANA enters. She’s excited. Hasn’t slept.

DIANA:
Sybil, you gotta see this!

DIANA doesn’t even notice the green stones, she
runs over the sculpture. SYBIL rushes to DIANA to
try and stop her from colliding with the stones.
She fails, but in the process she drops the
binoculars.

SYBIL:
Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. What’s going on?

DIANA:
They arrived last night.

SYBIL:
Who did?

SOMEWHERE p. 45

DRAFT 6

DIANA:
First there was one. Then two. Then three. Now there’s a kaleidoscope! That’s what
you call them, ya know—when there’s a whole bunch of them. Like a murder of
crows or a parliament of owls.

Come on, you have to see.

DIANA begins to pull SYBIL stage left.

A kaleidoscope of monarch butterflies appears.
They are a misshapen cloud—moving sort of the
way starlings do.

DIANA:
There they are!

SYBIL:
(Wonderfully surprised) Butterflies! Are those really butterflies?

DIANA:
Yes.

Wait, watch this.

DIANA approaches the kaleidoscope of butterflies.
As she approaches, the cloud of butterflies rotates
and contracts into the form of DIANA’s shadow or
twin—a mirror image. DIANA looks back at
SYBIL.

DIANA:
Did you see that?

DIANA steps away from the butterflies, the
kaleidoscope expands back into a cloud.

DIANA:
Try it.

SYBIL:
No. Get away from them, Diana.

DIANA:
They’re just butterflies.

SOMEWHERE p. 46

DRAFT 6

SYBIL:
No, they’re not.

SYBIL drags DIANA away from the butterflies. The
butterflies drift off.

DIANA:
Whattya mean, “they’re not.” They’re butterflies!

SYBIL:
Butterflies don’t do that.

DIANA:
(Disappointed) They’re leaving.

SYBIL:
Let them leave.

EPH comes out of the cabin, stretching. He sees the
binoculars and picks them up to inspect them.

DIANA:
But where did they come from? I haven’t seen—I mean, there haven’t been ANY
insects in ages.

What do you think it means? Do you think we’re coming back from the brink?

SYBIL:
I dunno. It seems too soon.

DIANA:
Too soon? You’re kidding, right?

EPH:
(Hella annoyed) Who broke the binoculars?!

SYBIL and DIANA return to the front of the cabin.
EPH holds out the binoculars.

EPH:
Our one pair of binoculars now has a crack in its lens.

SYBIL:
I’m sorry, Eph.

SOMEWHERE p. 47

DRAFT 6

SYBIL takes the binoculars and looks out with

them.

DIANA:
This is why we needed two of everything.

EPH:
We didn’t have room for two of every tool. That’s why we take care of our tools so
they take care of us.

SYBIL:
They still work.

SYBIL continues to look out with the binoculars.
She adjusts the focus.

EPH:
For now.

What are you looking at?

SYBIL:
There’s something in the distance. Something reflective. I can’t tell what it is yet. But
it’s moving.

EPH:
Moving?

DIANA:
A car?

SYBIL:
Too small.

EPH opens the door to the cabin and shouts.

EPH:
Corin! Get your butt out here!

EPH finds a shotgun and loads it.

DIANA:
Do you think it’s people?

EPH:
That’s just our luck.

SOMEWHERE p. 48

DRAFT 6

CORIN emerges wiping the sleep from his eyes.

CORIN:
Why are we shouting?

EPH:
People.

SYBIL:
Yes. I can see them now. There’s two of them on bicycles.

DIANA:
That’s a good idea. Why didn’t we bring bicycles?

SYBIL:
We didn’t have bicycles.

CORIN:
Are they definitely headed this way?

SYBIL:
Oh yeah.

CORIN locates a steel baseball bat.

DIANA:
Why are we assuming they mean us harm?

EPH:
Because the end of days brings out the worst in people.

SYBIL:
They’re almost here.

DIANA:
Lemme see.

SYBIL hands the binoculars to DIANA. DIANA
looks out in the direction of the unseen riders.

DIANA:
One of them is waving.

DIANA waves back. CORIN brings her hand back
down to stop the waving. DIANA puts her hand in

SOMEWHERE p. 49

DRAFT 6

front of her chest and make a small wave that the

others don’t see.

DIANA:
How do you think they found us?

SYBIL:
(To CORIN) There aren’t any signs—on the highway, I mean—something advertising
the farm?

CORIN:
Nah. It wasn’t for tourists. It was a working farm. Only me and my dad really knew
how to get here.

DIANA:
Here they come.

EPH comes forward with his shotgun. CORIN joins
him. SYBIL drags DIANA to the porch of the cabin,
they walk through the stone sculpture—
disturbing it. Each of them is tense with
anticipation.

The sound of a bicycle bell ringing. CASSANDRA
and ALEXANDER enter riding on their bikes. They
come to a stop and stand, straddling their bicycles.

A moment as they all take one another in.

CASSANDRA:
(Eventually) Hi there.

We didn’t mean to cause any alarm.

EPH:
Whattya want?

CASSANDRA:
Well, this may sound a little odd. But you guys haven’t seen any butterflies lately,
have you?

EPH:
All the butterflies are dead.

CASSANDRA:
Actually, no. There are still some monarch butterflies. We’re following them.

SOMEWHERE p. 50

DRAFT 6

CORIN:
You expect us to believe you’re out here following butterflies?

CASSANDRA:
Yes, that’s exactly what we’re doing. We tagged them with very light-weight
transmitters for tracking them. Quite the feat of engineering actually.

(To ALEXANDER) Show them the directional antenna.

ALEXANDER:
I don’t know if that’s a good idea.

CASSANDRA:
Show them. We can prove it—we’ve been following this particular kaleidoscope for
some time. Kaleidoscope is what you call a group of butterflies.

SYBIL:
We know.

CORIN and EPH both look at SYBIL as if to say, “Do
we?”

DIANA:
I’ve seen them.

Everyone turns to DIANA.

DIANA:
They showed up last night. They’re all over the trees.

CASSANDRA:
(Excited) What trees? Are they roosting?

CASSANDRA and ALEXANDER take off their
helmets.

DIANA:
Some of them are, yeah.

CASSANDRA:
(To ALEXANDER) Check their position again. See if they’re remaining steady.

ALEXANDER reluctantly and slowly takes out the
directional antenna and receiver and turns it on.

SOMEWHERE p. 51

DRAFT 6

CASSANDRA:
That’s the antenna I was talking about. Each butterfly has a small transmitter that’s
lighter than a chicken feather.

The receiver beeps.

ALEXANDER:
Yeah, they’re holding steady.

CASSANDRA:
Then this is it!

EPH:
This is what? What are you talking about?

CASSANDRA looks at the shotgun and bat.

CASSANDRA:
Is it okay if we dismount from our bikes?

EPH:
No sudden movements.

CASSANDRA:
Wow. You guys are little paranoid.

ALEXANDER:
(Cautioning) Cassandra.

CASSANDRA:
You do realize it’s four against two.

ALEXANDER:
We’re not against anyone.

(To EPH) She hasn’t been around a lot of people lately.

CASSANDRA:
You make me sound anti-social.

ALEXANDER:
You never left your lab, even before the world went to hell in a handbasket.

SYBIL and DIANA come down from the porch to
join everyone.

SOMEWHERE p. 52

DRAFT 6

SYBIL:
(To CASSANDRA) You’re a scientist?

ALEXANDER:
She’s an entomologist.

CASSANDRA:
(Correcting) An entomologist is also a scientist.

(To SYBIL) Yes, I am a scientist. That’s why we’re here. Those monarch butterflies
are mine.

EPH:
Yours?

CASSANDRA:
I hatched them in my lab. They’re the last ones in existence…that we know of.

CORIN:
Why did you release them?

CASSANDRA:
To see where they’d go. The previous generations weren’t following the proper
migratory patterns. They usually go South to Mexico.

CORIN:
But there’s nothing out here for them. Nothing for them to eat. Why not let them
stay in the lab?

CASSANDRA:
Because they aren’t meant for labs. They’re meant for sunshine and air.

ALEXANDER:
Look, we don’t mean to intrude. We have our own supplies.

EPH:
You can’t have that much in those backpacks.

ALEXANDER:
Well, we won’t be here that long.

CASSANDRA:
Actually, we don’t know how long we’ll be here. It depends on the butterflies.

EPH:
So you’ll need supplies eventually.

SOMEWHERE p. 53

DRAFT 6

ALEXANDER:
We’ll be fine.

CASSANDRA:
You won’t even know we’re here. We can set up camp near the butterflies.

EPH:
No.

ALEXANDER:
…This is important. Her work.

CORIN:
Important how?

CASSANDRA:
Don’t you want to know where they all went? What happened to them?

CORIN:
The butterflies?

CASSANDRA:
Not just the butterflies. The bees. The dragonflies. The mosquitoes.

EPH:
I’m doing just fine without the mosquitoes.

SYBIL:
What do you know about plants?

CASSANDRA:
Apart from the fact that they’re all dying? Well, insects eat plants. So I have to know
a bit about them since there’s crossover.

SYBIL:
(To EPH) We need to know what’s in the trench.

CASSANDRA:
What’s in the trench?

EPH:
None of your business.

SYBIL:
(Pressing) Eph. We need more expertise.

SOMEWHERE p. 54

DRAFT 6

DIANA:
Yeah, I didn’t find anything in my books last night.

CASSANDRA:
Symbiosis.

EPH:
What?

CASSANDRA:
It’s when two organisms enter into a relationship.

CORIN:
Like a parasite.

CORIN leans over to EPH.

CORIN:
(Quietly) Stone soup.

CASSANDRA:
Well, there are three types of symbiotic relationships. Parasitic is one. But I’m
suggesting a mutualistic relationship whereby both parties benefit. We want to
camp near the butterflies so we clearly need your permission. And in return we can
offer whatever scientific and electrical services you may need.

SYBIL:
Electrical?

CASSANDRA:
My brother Alexander is an engineer.

ALEXANDER:
(Correcting) Was an engineer.

CASSANDRA:
(To ALEXANDER) Technically you still are.

(To others) If you have any machines that need to be fixed. And I can offer up my
services. As a scientist.

EPH looks at SYBIL and CORIN. SYBIL clearly
thinks this is a good idea. CORIN isn’t so sure, but
doesn’t protest.

SOMEWHERE p. 55

DRAFT 6

EPH:
As long as the relationship is…mutualistic.

CASSANDRA:
Agreed!

So…we can set up camp?

DIANA:
I can take you to the butterflies.

EPH:
No. They’ve got a tracker. They can find them.

CASSANDRA:
Right.

EPH:
I’ll be by in a few hours.

CASSANDRA:
Sounds good.

(To ALEXANDER) Shall we?

CASSANDRA and ALEXANDER walk their bikes
across the stage. They nod good-bye to the others
and exit.

CORIN:
You sure about this, Eph?

EPH:
Sybil is right. We need to know what’s happening in the trench.

(To SYBIL and DIANA) In the meantime, steer clear of them.

DIANA:
Are you serious?

EPH:
We know nothing about them.

DIANA:
And they know what’s happening out there. How long have we been isolated on this
farm without any information?

SOMEWHERE p. 56

DRAFT 6

DIANA (cont’):
Sybil, what if our survival depends on it?

SYBIL:
Let’s get to know them a little before we begin accepting their word as gospel.

Eph, you keep an eye on them. Diana and I will do an electrical inventory. See if
there’s anything that could use a check-up.

CORIN:
(Slightly offended) I’ve been maintaining our equipment just fine.

SYBIL:
I didn’t mean you weren’t, Corin. But we’re going to make these newcomers earn
their keep.

(To DIANA) Come on.

SYBIL starts to go into the cabin. DIANA lingers
looking after CASSANDRA and ALEXANDER. SYBIL
pulls DIANA along and the pair disappear into the
house.

CORIN:
You think they are what they appear to be?

EPH:
Nothing is what it appears to be anymore. Better to be safe than sorry.

EPH exits in the direction of CASSANDRA and
ALEXANDER. Now alone, CORIN notices that the
stone sculpture he created was completely walked
through and disturbed. He tries to fix it, but gives
up in frustration. Lights shift.

SOMEWHERE p. 57

DRAFT 6

ACT II, SCENE 2

CASSANDRA and ALEXANDER set up camp.

Monarch butterflies roost in a tree nearby.
CASSANDRA moves closer to admire them, journal
and pen in hand. ALEXANDER unrolls their
sleeping bags and sets up their campfire area.

CASSANDRA:
They’re a wary bunch.

ALEXANDER:
The butterflies?

CASSANDRA:
Yes, the butterflies greeted us with shotguns and bats.

ALEXANDER:
It must have been bad where they came from.

CASSANDRA:
They seem to be doing pretty well out here.

ALEXANDER:
The people or the butterflies?

CASSANDRA:
Both I guess. But I meant the people.

ALEXANDER:
Cassandra, whatever it is that you need to do with the butterflies, you need to do it
quick. We may have overpromised our ability to help them.

CASSANDRA:
First of all, are you suggesting that I might not be of service or you?

ALEXANDER:
You. I was definitely talking about you.

CASSANDRA:
Second of all, I have no idea what I’m supposed to do next with the butterflies. I
mean, other than observe and document.

ALEXANDER:
…You’re kidding, right?

SOMEWHERE p. 58

DRAFT 6

CASSANDRA:
Have you completely forgotten the Scientific Method?

ALEXANDER:
This isn’t a joke, Cassandra. They want us off their land.

CASSANDRA:
I understand the gravity of the situation, Alexander. I do. But I can’t give you or them
a timeline for how long it will take me to do my work. All I do know is that we’re
supposed to be here.

ALEXANDER looks around at their surroundings.

ALEXANDER:
“The forest of dead things?”

CASSANDRA:
These trees seem to be doing fine. But the ones we passed through, the ones in rows.
Some of those were definitely dead things.

CASSANDRA records some notes in her journal.
ALEXANDER watches her.

ALEXANDER:
How do you do it?

CASSANDRA:
I write one letter after another to form a word. Word after word to form a
sentence…

ALEXANDER:
You know what I mean. You’re acting like we’re on safari. Like the world is one big
experiment and we’re not in the middle of a mass extinction event.

(Frustrated) Don’t you care about what’s happening? To the world? To humans?
Why aren’t you afraid or even concerned that we won’t survive the month? And
don’t use your prescience as a crutch.

CASSANDRA:
(Protesting) I don’t use it as a crutch.

ALEXANDER:
Yes, you do. You don’t fully engage in the Now. In the very real danger of the people
only a thousand yards away.

SOMEWHERE p. 59

DRAFT 6

CASSANDRA:
Why are you so afraid of people?

ALEXANDER:
Did you not see that shotgun?

CASSANDRA:
I don’t mean them specifically. Both times we went into cities—

ALEXANDER:
(Emphatic) They were towns.

CASSANDRA:
Really?

ALEXANDER:
The distinction is important to me!

CASSANDRA:
Both times we went into towns you were the one who didn’t want to engage. Didn’t
want to talk to people.

ALEXANDER:
We had to keep moving.

CASSANDRA:
I thought you wanted to know what was happening—what’s behind this extinction
level event.

ALEXANDER:
No, I asked if you cared. Cared about our survival. If you were worried about the
impending Death—capital D—that’s just visible on the horizon. Our deaths. Yours
and mine. Not hypothetical or clinical. Ours.

CASSANDRA:
…Of course, I’m concerned.

ALEXANDER:
Just concerned?

CASSANDRA:
That was your word!

They stare at one another—frustrated and
annoyed.

SOMEWHERE p. 60

DRAFT 6

CASSANDRA:
Ya know, you can grow up with someone and it can still take a lifetime before you
really understand them. The fact of the matter is, I’m okay with recording the facts
down. With analyzing them and waiting to see what they tell me—even if the results
aren’t good. But I’m not putting all my hopes on them one way or the other. I just
want to know why the cosmic dice shake out the way they do. I’m satisfied with that.

But you, dear brother, are searching for Meaning—capital M. And sometimes the
facts don’t give you meaning. Here we are at the end and you’re struggling because
you still are searching for it. You’re trying to outrace what’s happening all around us
so you can keep pedaling forward with the hope that you’ll find meaning down the
road. But you’re chasing a ghost. The truth is you need to sit still for a while. Sit still
in your heartache, in your disappointment. Sit still and do the hard work of creating
meaning for yourself.

ALEXANDER:
…I used to think the meaning of life was Love. To love and be loved.

CASSANDRA:
Heartache is a part of loving just like death is a part of life.

ALEXANDER:
(Shaken) I’m not ready.

CASSANDRA:
None of us are.

A BEAT.

CASSANDRA:
Did you know, that for most of human history life expectancy was somewhere
between twenty-five and thirty-five.

ALEXANDER:
So we’re continuing the trend?

CASSANDRA:
It was only in the 1950s that the average global lifespan was 45. And look at what
we accomplished since then. Space exploration. The human genome. A few holes in
the ozone. The golden age of television.

Good things never last. They bloom and then die. It’s just our luck—good and bad—
to be living in the moment when the house of cards finally comes crashing down.

ALEXANDER:
So it’s official. The Boomers really did ruin everything.

SOMEWHERE p. 61

DRAFT 6

They laugh.

CASSANDRA:
I don’t know what’s coming.

ALEXANDER:
Said the oracle.

CASSANDRA:
But we’re together. That’s what matters. We’ll face it together.

The butterflies begin to flutter and fly around the
siblings. CASSANDRA and ALEXANDER look up in
wonder. The butterflies spiral in individual
tornado patterns.

ALEXANDER:
Is this usual behavior for them?

CASSANDRA:
Nothing about their behavior lately has been usual.

More and more butterflies land on CASSANDRA’s
outstretched arm. They begin to cover her entire
body.

ALEXANDER:
(Concerned) Cassandra?

All together the butterflies launch off of
CASSANDRA’s arm and return to the tree where
they were roosting.

ALEXANDER:
What does it mean?

CASSANDRA:
I have no idea. Isn’t that wonderful?

CASSANDRA returns to writing in her journal.
Lights shift.

SOMEWHERE p. 62

DRAFT 6

ACT II, SCENE 3

The trench. CASSANDRA is examining the network
of fibrous tendrils exuding from the trench’s walls.
ALEXANDER holds a flashlight to help
CASSANDRA’s examination.

EPH and SYBIL stand nearby. CORIN and DIANA
arrive and enter the trench. They watch from a
distance.

EPH:
Do you know what it is?

CASSANDRA:
I do. Have any of you ever heard of the humongous fungus?

CORIN:
Is that supposed to be a joke?

CASSANDRA:
It’s a funny name, I know. It’s more of a fun moniker. It’s over three square miles—
one of the largest living organisms on earth.

What we are looking at is Armillaria ostoyae. Those mushrooms you pointed out—
the new ones on the trees nearby, they’re part of the same system.

EPH:
Can you eat them?

CASSANDRA:
Uh…they’re a little suspect. A small but significant percentage of people have had
reactions.

EPH:
Reactions?

CASSANDRA:
Cases of poisoning. And considering that you guys are eating a lot of mushrooms, I
can’t tell you how you’ll react.

CORIN:
But most people can eat them.

CASSANDRA:
Yes. Some can. But it’s a risk, especially when there’s no hospital nearby.

SOMEWHERE p. 63

DRAFT 6

EPH and SYBIL are clearly disappointed.

CORIN:
(Skeptical) “Some.” You don’t know what you’re talking about.

CASSANDRA:
Point of fact, I read a lot about Armillaria ostoyae a few years ago.

CORIN:
(Scoffing) “A few years ago?”

ALEXANDER:
(Defensive) She has a photographic memory.

CORIN:
(With disdain) Must be nice.

DIANA:
(Sotto voce) Corin.

DIANA puts a hand on CORIN’s arm as if to reign
him in. He looks at her hand, at her—she’s
disapproving. He’s disappointed.

CASSANDRA:
It comes in handy.

EPH:
Great.

CASSANDRA:
That’s not the worst of it.

EPH:
What’s the worst of it?

CASSANDRA:
These fibrous tendrils. This is how it lives, by growing underground, tapping into
the food and water it finds.

It’s a plant-pathogenic fungus.

The trees you pointed out, the ones that aren’t looking too good. It’s tapped into
their root system. This is how it feeds.

SOMEWHERE p. 64

DRAFT 6

SYBIL:
(A realization) It’s a disease. It’s killing the trees.

CORIN:
(Alarmed) The truffles need the trees.

EPH:
Corin?

CORIN:
Truffles need the tree roots. The truffle gives the tree water and nutrients and the
tree gives the truffle sugars produced through photosynthesis.

CASSANDRA:
A symbiotic relationship. But this fungus is hijacking that process. It’s a parasite.

EPH, CORIN, SYBIL, and DIANA react—the news is
a staggering revelation.

EPH:
How long?

CASSANDRA:
Excuse me?

EPH:
How long before there are no more truffles?

CASSANDRA:
I dunno. You’d have to figure out how far it’s spread.

EPH:
Can you do that?

CASSANDRA:
I can help. One sure way is those mushrooms on the trunks. Looking out for those.

CORIN:
But they’re also underground.

(To EPH) Maybe there’s a way to dig them out or at least stop the spread.

CASSANDRA:
That would be impossible—they’re threaded through the ground everywhere. It’d
be like trying to keep water from circulating between the different oceans.

SOMEWHERE p. 65

DRAFT 6

CORIN:
So we do nothing?

SYBIL:
(To CASSANDRA) Can you kill it? Make a pesticide. Something that only targets the
parasite.

CASSANDRA:
That is not something I can do. I’m sorry. I don’t even know if it’s possible, and even
if it were I don’t have the equipment, the chemicals…sorry.

CORIN:
Then we treat it like a weed and pull it out.

ALEXANDER:
All three-square miles of it?

CORIN:
This is the first I’ve seen of it on this farm, so it’s just gotten here.

(To EPH) We can do it. We identify where it is and create a perimeter. Use dikes.
Fire. Whatever means necessary. We can save this farm. I know we can.

EPH:
All right. All hands-on deck. Sybil, you and Diana will have to take up foraging while
Corin and I deal with the fungus.

CASSANDRA:
Alexander can help you guys.

CORIN doesn’t like this idea. ALEXANDER isn’t
keen on the idea of spending more time with
CORIN.

ALEXANDER:
I thought I was on electrical maintenance.

CASSANDRA:
New priorities, right, Eph?

EPH:
Right. The faster we get rid of the fungus, the faster you two can be on your way.

SYBIL:
Eph, we promised Cassandra could study the butterflies.

SOMEWHERE p. 66

DRAFT 6

EPH:
That’s the timeline.

EPH exits the trench followed by CORIN.

CASSANDRA:
I feel like the messenger was shot.

SYBIL:
I’ll talk to him.

ALEXANDER:
I guess I should join them.

(To SYBIL) Where do you think they went?

SYBIL:
There’s a barn behind the cabin. That’s where the farm and gardening equipment is.

DIANA:
(Eager) I can show you.

DIANA exits followed by ALEXANDER. SYBIL waits
until they’re out of earshot.

SYBIL:
You wouldn’t happen to have any vitamins you’d be willing to part with?

CASSANDRA:
Vitamins?

SYBIL:
Yeah. Anything really. Iron. Calcium…Folic Acid.

CASSANDRA:
Are you pregnant?

SYBIL:
(Emphatic) No. No. Just…trying to store up on whatever is missing in our diet.

CASSANDRA:
Sorry. We had to pack light.

CASSANDRA begins to exit the trench. SYBIL
remains looking at the tendrils coming out of the

SOMEWHERE p. 67

DRAFT 6

wall. CASSANDRA comes back into the trench to

stare at the wall with SYBIL.

CASSANDRA:
Beautiful, isn’t it? In its own destructive way.

SYBIL:
Do you think it will work? Weeding it out.

CASSANDRA:
You don’t want to know what I think.

SYBIL:
Why not?

CASSANDRA:
My “predictions” have a tendency to come true.

SYBIL:
And what do you predict for us, for the farm?

The light dims save for a soft halo around
CASSANDRA. We are in her mind’s eye with her.
She stares off into the future.

CASSANDRA:
Four. Three. Two. And then one left alone, left to land—lost in dirt, another found in
sand. Two. Two struggle together. The numbers rearrange themselves.

Lights restore. CASSANDRA looks at SYBIL.

SYBIL:
Where did you go just now?

CASSANDRA:
Sorry. Sometimes I get lost in my thoughts.

SYBIL:
So? What do you predict for us?

CASSANDRA:
…You have less time than you think. We all do.

Lights shift.

SOMEWHERE p. 68

DRAFT 6

ACT II, SCENE 4

Later. Early evening. EPH, CORIN, and
ALEXANDER enter near the cabin. They are dirty
and sweaty from working. CORIN carries a bundle
of mycelial cords that have been wrapped into a
coil.

Both EPH and ALEXANDER wear gloves. CORIN
does not.

CORIN tosses the coil of fungal mycelial into a
metal trash can. He winces noticeably and sucks
the air in between his teeth. He examines the palm
of his hand.

EPH:
What happened?

CORIN:
Cut myself.

ALEXANDER takes off his gloves.

ALEXANDER:
You didn’t have to lend me your gloves.

CORIN:
You’ve got city hands. Wouldn’t’ve lasted half a day.

ALEXANDER:
Actually, I have biking hands. Callouses up the wazoo.

Both EPH and ALEXANDER approach CORIN to
inspect the cut.

ALEXANDER:
You should clean that out.

CORIN:
I’m fine.

EPH:
He’s right, Corin.

I’m pretty sure we have a first aid kit in the truck.

SOMEWHERE p. 69

DRAFT 6

CORIN nods and exits.

EPH goes over to the water pump and pumps
water into a bucket. He uses a ladle to take a
drink. When he’s done, he offers the ladle and
bucket to ALEXANDER. ALEXANDER accepts the
ladle and drinks. They sit and relax.

EPH:
Nothing like cold water.

…You did pretty good today. For a city boy.

ALEXANDER:
Where did you guys come from? Before the farm, I mean.

EPH:
Seattle.

ALEXANDER:
City boy yourself.

EPH:
Yeah, but we didn’t grow up there. Sybil and I are high school sweethearts. We grew
up in a small town called Driggs, in Idaho. It wasn’t easy there, for either of us. So we
moved to Seattle.

ALEXANDER:
What did you do there?

EPH:
I was a general contractor. Sybil and I had our own business. She took care of the
books and I managed our projects. A few years back—when the world was still the
world—we hired Corin.

ALEXANDER:
He doesn’t say much.

EPH:
He does when you get to know him. He grew up here. On this farm. Just his parents
and him. I think he liked that I was an only child, too. Like we were both looking for
a brother.

ALEXANDER:
Where are his parents?

SOMEWHERE p. 70

DRAFT 6

EPH:
His mother died when he was a kid and ever since then he was trying to get away
from this place.

When Corin told me about the farm, it made sense. Wait it out some place secluded
and safe.

Where did you two come from?

ALEXANDER:
Before it went bad I was in Austin.

EPH:
(Excited) Austin! Some of the best barbecue I ever had was in Austin. Damn, I hadn’t
thought about barbecue in ages. Funny how that happens. A memory of something
sneaks up and you can almost taste it, smell it. You can make your own mouth water
with just a memory.

ALEXANDER:
I miss cheese.

EPH:
Cheese? Not cold beer? Not a medium rare steak?

ALEXANDER:
(Almost laughing) Hey, I didn’t plan on missing cheese. I just do. I have this powerful
hankering for cheese.

EPH:
(Re word) Hankering? Are you for real?

ALEXANDER:
What?

They both laugh. It’s comfortable and friendly.

EPH:
(Eventually) So when did you leave Austin?

ALEXANDER:
Right as the gas prices started to spike. I thought I’d better get up to Dallas to check
on my mom.

EPH:
(Delicately) What happened to her?

SOMEWHERE p. 71

DRAFT 6

ALEXANDER:
She didn’t want to leave when I did. Told me to go help my sister. My brother Hector
was supposed to come and take Mom to Colorado. That was the plan, anyway.

EPH:
What’s in Colorado?

ALEXANDER:
My brother lives there. He has a ranch and a bunker.

EPH:
Why didn’t you two go there?

ALEXANDER:
When Cassandra’s on a mission, there’s no stopping her.

EPH:
…She’s really studying those butterflies?

ALEXANDER:
Yeah, she’s really studying them. She used to run a butterfly lab at the University of
Minnesota. That’s where we came from.

EPH:
That’s a long way’s from here. Did you guys see a lot of people on the road?

ALEXANDER:
The roads are pretty empty. People are saving their gas for generators.

EPH:
Wasteful, if you ask me. We have plenty of sunlight. Don’t get me wrong, it does
make for some boring evenings when all you have is starlight. But we’re all getting
our 8 hours, that’s for sure.

ALEXANDER:
What you all did was smart.

EPH:
How so?

ALEXANDER:
You adapted. You’re not trying to live in the past—to hold on to the old way of life.

EPH:
What about you and Cassandra? Are you two adapting?

SOMEWHERE p. 72

DRAFT 6

ALEXANDER:
We’re moving. A rolling stone—

EPH:
Gathers no moss.

ALEXANDER:
Precisely. (Darkly) And I am not about to have anything gathering on me.

ALEXANDER gets the willies and shakes off the
image in his head. EPH notices.

EPH:
…You’ve seen them, haven’t you?

ALEXANDER:
Seen what?

EPH looks around to see if anyone else is within
ear shot. He doesn’t spot CORIN coming around
the far side of the cabin, holding his hand which is
now wrapped in gauze. When CORIN realizes EPH
is telling ALEXANDER a secret, he hides and listens
on the side of the cabin.

EPH:
This is something I’ve not told the others.

ALEXANDER:
Then why are you telling me?

EPH:
Because I think we’ve seen the same thing. And I wanna know what it is—if it’s
dangerous.

When we first arrived, we couldn’t find Corin’s dad.

ALEXANDER:
…But you found him later.

EPH:
Yeah.

I don’t quite know how to describe him…what he became.

SOMEWHERE p. 73

DRAFT 6

EPH looks at ALEXANDER expectantly.

ALEXANDER understands what EPH has seen.

ALEXANDER:
(Eventually) Before I left my place in Austin I looked out my kitchen window and
saw my next-door neighbor sitting on a stump in his backyard. It used to be this big
oak tree, but he cut it down a few years back—some sort of disease killed it. Oak
Wilt, I think.

Anyway, there he was in the middle of the night sitting on the stump. I thought—I
thought maybe he was feeling bad about cutting down the tree. Or, maybe the stress
of everything was getting to him. He was still there in the morning—as if he had
stayed there the entire night. So I went to check on him.

From a distance he had this peaceful, far off look on his face. But as I got closer I
noticed his eyes were milky. Like cataracts. And then I saw it. His skin. Where his
thighs met the tree stump. Where his hands rested on the bark. It was like he was
being grafted onto the tree or the tree was grafting onto him. He wasn’t in pain—at
least I don’t think he was. But he was becoming something else. He and the tree.

I’m guessing Corin’s dad was something like that, right?

EPH:
Yeah, something like that. What do you think it is?

ALEXANDER:
I wish I knew.

EPH:
What does your sister think?

ALEXANDER:
She’s not sure.

EPH:
Not even a hypothesis.

ALEXANDER:
She’s been focusing on the butterflies. But I’ll ask her.

What became of Corin’s dad?

EPH:
I buried him.

SOMEWHERE p. 74

DRAFT 6

ALEXANDER:
What about Corin?

EPH:
Would you want to know if your loved one became…one of those things?

ALEXANDER:
I’d wanna know either way.

EPH:
Corin thinks his old man went looking for him in Seattle. That he’ll come back one of
these days. Let him have that for now. Let him think his old man is making his way
back to him.

ALEXANDER stands.

ALEXANDER:
I better get going.

EPH:
See you tomorrow. Daybreak. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.

ALEXANDER:
Goodnight.

A moment after ALEXANDER exits CORIN enters.
He shows his wrapped hand to EPH.

EPH:
Did you find the peroxide?

CORIN:
Yeah. Burned like the Dickens.

EPH:
Did it fizz? That’s how you know it’s killing the bacteria.

CORIN:
It fizzed.

EPH:
Did you have to use that much gauze? I thought it was just a nick?

CORIN:
My hand’s a little raw.

SOMEWHERE p. 75

DRAFT 6

EPH:
Should’ve kept your gloves for yourself.

CORIN:
Oh, I will from now on.

EPH offers CORIN some water. CORIN drinks.

CORIN:
You been makin’ friends, Eph?

EPH:
Don’t tell me you’re getting jealous.

CORIN:
I’m not jealous. I know that you and me go way back.

EPH:
Yes, we do.

CORIN:
And we know everything about one another, right?

EPH:
That sounds about right.

CORIN:
So that’s us? We know everything about one another?

EPH:
…Everything there is to know, we know about one another, Corin. You can count on
that.

CORIN nods. They exit. Lights shift.

SOMEWHERE p. 76

DRAFT 6

ACT II, SCENE 5

DIANA enters pursued by SYBIL, who carries a
bucket filled with random objects—each with a
thin layer of dirt. In her other hand, she carries a
metal detector.

SYBIL:
Do you wanna explain this to me?

DIANA:
Not really.

SYBIL:
(Voice raising) Diana, stop.

DIANA stops and faces her sister. SYBIL pulls out
objects from the bucket—a universal TV remote,
an electrical thermometer, and SYBIL’s calculator.

SYBIL:
A remote. A thermometer. My calculator—do you know how long I’ve been looking
for this?

DIANA:
Why were you using the metal detector?

SYBIL:
Don’t change the subject. Why are you burying electronics?

DIANA:
…Not just electronics.

SYBIL:
Diana!

DIANA:
What?!

SYBIL:
Why? I mean, the remote, I get it—

DIANA:
You don’t.

SOMEWHERE p. 77

DRAFT 6

SYBIL:
—but my calculator is solar powered.

DIANA:
It wasn’t about whether it worked or not.

SYBIL:
Then why?!

DIANA:
I don’t know why!

It’s just this urge. Like an itch that can’t be scratched unless you do this one thing.
It’s just this strange…compulsion.

Do you remember our dog Noodle? How he dug up the entire backyard. Holes
everywhere. He couldn’t stop digging. Like he was driven by some sort of instinct.

SYBIL:
First of all, the dog was depressed because we weren’t playing with him as much as
we used to—he was acting out.

Second, you’re not a dog. You’re not an animal.

DIANA:
Humans are animals. And we do have instincts.

SYBIL:
Survival instincts.

DIANA:
Maybe that’s what this is.

SYBIL:
No, this is a vitamin deficiency. Or a side effect of the mushrooms.

DIANA:
They’re not that kind of mushroom.

SYBIL:
Well, then you’re going crazy. Is that what’s happening? Are you losing your shit?

DIANA:
(Firmly) I am not losing my shit.

SOMEWHERE p. 78

DRAFT 6

SYBIL:
(Eventually) What did you think would happen after you buried them?

DIANA:
I dunno. I just knew they belonged in the ground.

SYBIL:
Dead and buried.

DIANA:
No. I wasn’t burying them. I was planting them.

SYBIL:
Planting electronics?

DIANA:
I know. I know.

But when was the last time this world made any sense?

SYBIL:
It’s been a while.

DIANA:
…Do you really think there’s something wrong with me?

SYBIL puts an arm around DIANA to comfort her.

SYBIL:
No.

But…

DIANA:
But?

SYBIL:
Cassandra is the closest thing we have to a physician.

DIANA:
You mean psychiatrist.

SYBIL:
Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to consult her.

SOMEWHERE p. 79

DRAFT 6

DIANA:
Especially as she’s not staying here permanently.

BEAT.

DIANA:
Are you gonna tell Eph?

SYBIL:
No. This is between us. We’ll sort it out. You and me.

DIANA:
And if we can’t?

SYBIL:
No such thing as “can’t.”

Enter EPH and CORIN. CORIN scratches at his
gauze.


EPH:
There you two are.

SYBIL:
Here we are.

Corin, what happened to your hand?

CORIN:
It’s nothing.

EPH:
You two hungry? We’ve got mushrooms and mushrooms. What do you feel like
eating?

DIANA:
(A realization) Actually, we have more options that that. We can barter. With
Cassandra and Alexander—trade.

CORIN:
They can’t have much in those backpacks.

SYBIL registers DIANA’s disappointment.

SOMEWHERE p. 80

DRAFT 6

SYBIL:
But it’s worth an ask. Come on, Eph. Let’s see if we can spice up the menu tonight.

EPH:
I am too tired to say no.

SYBIL:
Diana and I will go.

CORIN:
Alone?

SYBIL:
We’ll be fine.

(To DIANA) Come on, let’s go visit Cassandra.

DIANA understands that SYBIL has engineered an
opportunity to talk to CASSANDRA and
appreciates it.

DIANA:
I’ll go get the mushrooms.

DIANA runs inside. SYBIL follows her.

EPH begins to go inside as well. He stops.

EPH:
You coming?

CORIN:
Nah, I have something to do.

EPH enters the house. CORIN fixes the stone
sculpture he made for DIANA.

Lights shift.

SOMEWHERE p. 81

DRAFT 6

ACT II, SCENE 6

CASSANDRA and ALEXANDER’s camp.
ALEXANDER, CASSANDRA, SYBIL, and DIANA
stand near two piles of food.

SYBIL:
Any ideas as to what might be going on?

DIANA:
Yeah, we thought since you’re a scientist—

SYBIL:
It makes you the closest thing we have to a doctor.

DIANA:
Or a psychiatrist. Plus, you two have been out there on the road. You’ve seen other
people. Maybe…maybe you’ve seen other people doing weird stuff.

ALEXANDER and CASSANDRA exchange a look.

DIANA:
What was that?

ALEXANDER:
What was what?

DIANA:
That look.

ALEXANDER:
It wasn’t about you.

SYBIL:
Then what was it about?

CASSANDRA:
Look, we have seen some odd things out there, but I don’t think they’re in the same
category as what Diana is doing.

SYBIL:
How so?

CASSANDRA:
You described a behavior. A compulsion, right?

SOMEWHERE p. 82

DRAFT 6

CASSANDRA (cont’):
Look, Diana, I’m not sure why you feel compelled to bury random objects. But from
what you’ve told me, I feel pretty confident that it’s harmless.

DIANA:
Harmless? You’re sure.

CASSANDRA:
Unless you need to use a calculator.

SYBIL:
Do you have any suggestions for how Diana can deal with these urges?

CASSANDRA:
Well, you can keep on burying objects.

DIANA:
(Correcting) Planting.

CASSANDRA:
Yes, sorry. Planting. Or, find another way to expend the energy.

DIANA:
Huh?

ALEXANDER:
She means, find another activity to replace what you’re doing.

DIANA:
What kind of activity?

CASSANDRA:
Yoga. Hiking.

SYBIL:
Are you serious?

CASSANDRA:
Absolutely. Look, you’ve all been on this farm—not venturing off it, not going to
nearby cities. I suspect a sort of restlessness has set in.

We aren’t meant to live on one small acre of land.

SYBIL:
It’s bigger than an acre.

SOMEWHERE p. 83

DRAFT 6

CASSANDRA:
But you get the point.

SYBIL:
(To DIANA) Well, since we’re staying put you’re gonna have to find a way to deal.

DIANA:
The story of my life. Thanks, Cassandra.

CASSANDRA:
My pleasure.

DIANA:
I guess all that’s left to do is figure out what food you’ll trade for ours.

ALEXANDER and DIANA squat near two piles of
food. CASSANDRA and SYBIL stand above them.

ALEXANDER:
We really don’t have anything substantial to offer.

DIANA:
Is that a Ritter Sports Bar?

DIANA grabs the chocolate bar and shows it to
SYBIL.

DIANA:
Chocolate and cornflakes! I haven’t seen one of these in…in forever.

ALEXANDER:
They’re my favorite.

DIANA:
My favorite’s the hazelnut, but this is a close second.

Is it your last?

ALEXANDER:
No. I’ve got another one right there.

He points out the second one. She grabs it.

ALEXANDER:
I’ll only trade one.

SOMEWHERE p. 84

DRAFT 6

DIANA hands back one of the bars.

SYBIL:
What about the instant ramen?

CASSANDRA:
So you get the ramen and the chocolate bar and we get…

SYBIL:
Truffles, one jar of peaches, and homemade venison jerky.

CASSANDRA:
I’m good with that. Paris?

ALEXANDER shoots her a look.

CASSANDRA:
Sorry, I mean, Alexander.

ALEXANDER:
I’m good with that.

CASSANDRA:
(To SYBIL) Looks like you’ve got a deal.

CASSANDRA extends her hand. SYBIL accepts her
hand and shakes it. ALEXANDER hands over the
instant noodles to DIANA. DIANA gives
ALEXANDER the jar of peaches, truffles, and the
homemade venison jerky.

ALEXANDER:
You guys made your own jerky. I’m impressed.

DIANA:
I found it in a survivalist book—recipes in the wild.

A brief moment of connection. ALEXANDER stands
up first, followed by DIANA.

ALEXANDER:
Thanks. This’ll be a nice change of pace.

SYBIL and DIANA slowly begin to leave, but linger.
CASSANDRA notices.

SOMEWHERE p. 85

DRAFT 6

CASSANDRA:
Is there anything else?

SYBIL:
Maybe don’t mention this conversation to Eph or Corin?

CASSANDRA:
Of course. Doctor-patient privilege is in effect.

SYBIL nods and exits.

DIANA:
Enjoy the food.

CASSANDRA and ALEXANDER wave as DIANA
exits.

ALEXANDER:
There’s a lot of secrets on this farm.

CASSANDRA:
Oh? Did someone else confide in you?

ALEXANDER:
Eph. I think he likes me. Maybe he’ll let us stay longer than he first said.

CASSANDRA:
That would be helpful.

CASSANDRA smells the venison jerky.

CASSANDRA:
Oh, that’s game-y.

ALEXANDER takes a bite.

ALEXANDER:
And tough as hell.

CASSANDRA:
Are you having barter’s remorse?

ALEXANDER:
Nah. It’s nice to eat something new.

SOMEWHERE p. 86

DRAFT 6

CASSANDRA:
I can’t believe you parted with one of your Ritter Sport Bars. You love those things.
Those two might be the last ones in existence for all we know.

ALEXANDER:
She really wanted it. I doubt they’ve had chocolate for a while.

CASSANDRA:
You can be very sweet when you want to be.

ALEXANDER:
Shut up.

CASSANDRA takes out her notebook and reviews
her notes. ALEXANDER opens the peaches with the
pull tab. He uses a spoon and eats one.

ALEXANDER:
How are the butterflies? Are they mating?

CASSANDRA:
Yes.

ALEXANDER:
And laying eggs.

CASSANDRA:
You make them sound like chickens.

ALEXANDER:
Isn’t that the right nomenclature?

He passes her the peaches. She eats.

CASSANDRA:
I prefer deposit.

ALEXANDER:
Well, are they…depositing?

CASSANDRA:
Not that I’ve seen. So that’s yet to come.

What was the secret Eph told you?

SOMEWHERE p. 87

DRAFT 6

ALEXANDER:
(Playfully) If I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret.

CASSANDRA:
Clever.

ALEXANDER:
It’s happened here. Corin’s father.

CASSANDRA:
Oh.

ALEXANDER:
He doesn’t want the others to know.

CASSANDRA:
You and Eph are a lot alike.

CASSANDRA offers ALEXANDER the can of
peaches.

ALEXANDER:
(Re peaches) Later.

He wants to know if you have a hypothesis?

CASSANDRA:
It’s kinda hard to formulate a hypothesis with little more than observations from
afar.

What about you? You’ve seen more of it than I have—and up close. What do you
think’s happening to them?

ALEXANDER:
(Reluctant) You don’t wanna know what I think.

CASSANDRA:
Yes, I do.

ALEXANDER:
That woman we saw, on the boulder—the lichen spreading onto her leg, spiraling
out from her knee. Remind you of anything? Daphne? Narcissus?

CASSANDRA:
I see where you’re going with this, but those were creation stories. They explained
what already existed in the natural world.

SOMEWHERE p. 88

DRAFT 6

ALEXANDER:
That’s not where I’m going with this. They were cursed. Punished. Narcissus was
cursed to fall in love with his reflection—he was transformed into a flower for being
a little shit.

CASSANDRA:
But Daphne wasn’t cursed.

ALEXANDER:
Yes, she was.

CASSANDRA:
But she was turned into a laurel tree to save her from the curse—from Apollo’s lust.

ALEXANDER:
You’re missing my point.

CASSANDRA:
…Are you saying we’re cursed?

ALEXANDER:
Yeah, maybe. We’ve pissed off the gods. We were given the keys to the kingdom and
what did we do? Made a complete mess of things.

CASSANDRA:
But that assumes mankind is at the center of the ecosystem. That Nature privileges
us somehow. Nature privileges survival.

ALEXANDER:
Well, you asked me to come up with something.

CASSANDRA:
I was hoping for something more scientific.

ALEXANDER:
All right, you do better.

CASSANDRA:
…Do you know what fallow farming is?

ALEXANDER:
Crop rotation, right?

CASSANDRA:
Sort of. You let one field lie fallow—you don’t seed it. Let the ground rest. Replenish.
Maybe Nature is realigning itself, recalibrating. Taking every resource—animal,

SOMEWHERE p. 89

DRAFT 6

CASSANDRA (cont’):
mineral, vegetable—and using them as building blocks for something new,
something that can survive. Or…maybe Nature is broken. Maybe this thing we’re
encountering is like cancer—a cell from your lung trying to grow on your kidney.

ALEXANDER:
So is it a plague? Is it evolution?

CASSANDRA:
Both? Neither? Yes, to all of the above.

ALEXANDER:
That’s not very comforting.

CASSANDRA:
Sorry. That’s not what I’m here for.

ALEXANDER:
So what do I tell Eph?

CASSANDRA:
Tell him what we do know. Not everyone is affected. If it were a contagious disease,
like cholera, we would have seen many more cases.

ALEXANDER:
That logic feels shoddy.

CASSANDRA:
I thought you wanted comfort.

ALEXANDER:
Point taken.

ALEXANDER puts the rest of the food away. He
holds up the truffle.

ALEXANDER:
How exactly are you supposed to eat this anyway?

CASSANDRA:
Traditionally, you shave it. It enhances other foods. Next time we make ramen, we’ll
use it.

CASSANDRA hands the peach can to ALEXANDER.

SOMEWHERE p. 90

DRAFT 6

CASSANDRA:
Time to hit the hay.

ALEXANDER:
That’s what Dad used to say.

CASSANDRA:
Yes, he did.

A BEAT as CASSANDRA and ALEXANDER settle
down for sleep.

ALEXANDER:
Do you think Hector found Mom—found her body, I mean?

CASSANDRA:
Paris…

ALEXANDER:
I need to know if she had a proper burial. It’s important.

Can you look? For me?

CASSANDRA:
You know I don’t like looking.

ALEXANDER:
Please.

CASSANDRA:
When I try to force it, it’s scary…How ‘bout, if something comes into my dreams, I’ll
tell you? Then we know the Universe wants us to know.

ALEXANDER:
Fair enough.

The light fades. The siblings fall asleep. As they
sleep, butterflies land on CASSANDRA’s exposed
skin. Her arms, her legs, her face. Lights shift.

SOMEWHERE p. 91

DRAFT 6

ACT II, SCENE 7

The next day. DIANA steps outside from the house
with her favorite book—The Enchanted April. She
savors the morning and sits down to read her
book.

Eventually CORIN’s stone sculpture catches her
eye. She ventures over to it, squats down to
examine it closely. She runs her fingers along a
stone. Suddenly she begins to bury the stones.

CORIN enters from off stage. He sees DIANA has
buried the majority of the stones.

CORIN:
What are you doing?!

DIANA tries to unbury the last stone she buried.

DIANA:
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I can fix it.

DIANA tries to unbury some of the stones.

CORIN:
Stop! Stop!

CORIN grabs DIANA by the arm.

DIANA:
Lemme go! Lemme go! Lemme go!

EPH and SYBIL come out of the house to see what
the ruckus is about.

CORIN:
I made it for you!

SYBIL:
Let her go, Corin!

EPH:
Whoa. Hold up there.

SOMEWHERE p. 92

DRAFT 6

SYBIL pulls CORIN’s hand off DIANA. The gauze

comes off his hand—there’s something wrong
with it. Sprouting from his palm is a smattering of
tendrils that seem embedded in the skin or under
it. The tendrils wrap up around his wrist. Everyone
sees it.

SYBIL:
What’s wrong with your hand?

CORIN grabs the gauze and re-wraps his hand.
SYBIL pulls DIANA away from the sculpture.

CORIN:
It’s nothing.

EPH:
Doesn’t look like nothing.

CORIN:
Is that so, Eph? What does it look like to you? Does it look familiar?

EPH:
I don’t know what you’re talking about, Corin.

CORIN:
Don’t. Lie.

This is my family farm. My truffles. All of you are guests here.

EPH:
…You want us to leave, is that it? After all this time. We’ve got a good thing here,
Corin.

CORIN:
Do we? Or, do you?

EPH:
We all do. We’re in this together.

CORIN:
All for one and one for all? Or am I just your hired hand? Am I just the guy who
happened to have a place to ride out the storm.

EPH:
That’s not how it is, Corin.

SOMEWHERE p. 93

DRAFT 6

CORIN:
(Voice raising) Then why are you lying to me?

EPH:
I’m not lying to you.

CORIN:
Where’s my dad, Eph? Where is he?

I heard you talking. You told him, but you won’t tell me.

Why didn’t you let me see what happened to my dad?

SYBIL:
(To EPH) What happened to him?

EPH:
(Eventually) I found him. On the outskirts of the property.

SYBIL:
(Upset) And you didn’t tell us?

CORIN:
He’s been keeping secrets.

EPH:
Don’t do that. I kept this one thing to myself. I was protecting you. All of you.

SYBIL:
From what?

CORIN:
Go on. Tell her.

EPH:
…I found him about four miles north. He was leaning against a tree. He was so still.
When I got closer I saw it. He was covered in these pale pink flowers that were
blooming up and down his body—any exposed skin was…in bloom. They were
growing out of him, a part of him.

SYBIL examines the skin where CORIN touched
DIANA and her own hands. CORIN approaches,
everyone else takes a step back.

CORIN:
You think I’m infectious? Is that it?

SOMEWHERE p. 94

DRAFT 6

SYBIL:
You need to calm down.

CORIN:
Calm down? Look around. The Titanic is sinking. We came out here ‘cuz we thought
we could make it work—live off the land. Well the land isn’t interested in being lived
off of anymore. This whole planet is becoming inhospitable and we just keep
pretending not to notice. And what—we think we’ll be the exception? The lucky few
who make it? No one is gonna make it. The only thing that’s gonna survive are the
microbes in the dirt. But us…we’re fragile, really. We break easily. We need water,
food—air conditioning!

It was stupid to come here.

EPH:
(Insistent) It was your idea.

CORIN:
Is that how you remember it?

ALEXANDER enters and senses the tension.

EPH:
I remember us agreeing that this farm was our best bet at long-term survival.

CORIN:
Well, we were wrong. Wrong about prolonging the inevitable. And I was wrong
about all of you.

CORIN sees ALEXANDER and then looks at DIANA.

CORIN:
(To EPH) I want everybody off my property by the end of the day. No exceptions.

CORIN exits.

A BEAT as everyone relaxes.

ALEXANDER:
Is he serious?

EPH:
Yeah, I think he might be.

SYBIL:
Eph, we need to stay here. The farm has a food supply, water—

SOMEWHERE p. 95

DRAFT 6

EPH:
I’ll talk to him.

(To ALEXANDER) Unfortunately, I do think it means you and your sister will have to
go.

DIANA:
But—

EPH:
I think it’s the only way to convince Corin.

(To ALEXANDER) I’m sorry.

EPH exits to follow CORIN.

SYBIL:
I’m sorry, Alexander. But I think Eph is right.

ALEXANDER:
Well, not to make things more complicated, but Cassandra is sick.

DIANA:
Whattya mean sick? What’s wrong with her?

ALEXANDER:
She has a fever. Nothing serious. But she could use some aspirin and we’re all out.

DIANA:
I’ll go get some.

DIANA exits into the house.

SYBIL:
Is it just a fever?

ALEXANDER:
Yeah.

SYBIL:
It’s not—it’s not a physical change?

ALEXANDER:
(A realization) Is that why Corin wants us to leave?

SOMEWHERE p. 96

DRAFT 6

SYBIL:
No, it’s…complicated.

ALEXANDER:
Cassandra needs to rest. We can’t be expected to leave if she’s sick. We need a few
days.

SYBIL:
If it’s not serious then the aspirin should take care of it. But you two have to leave if
we want any chance of convincing Corin to let us stay.

ALEXANDER:
Why does he make the decision?

SYBIL:
It’s his family farm.

ALEXANDER:
And you’re okay with that? With letting him kick us off. We’ve held up our end of the
bargain—Cassandra identified that fungus, I spent all day pulling that shit out of the
earth.

SYBIL:
I’m sorry.

ALEXANDER:
You’re not evening gonna try and convince him to let us stay?

SYBIL:
I don’t have to explain myself to you.

ALEXANDER:
Right. ‘Cause we’re basically strangers and it’s everyone for themselves these days.

He almost leaves, but then has a new thought.

ALEXANDER:
I hope you never find yourself at the mercy of others. Not in this day and age.

DIANA comes out of the house with aspirin as
ALEXANDER exits.

DIANA:
What about the aspirin?

(To SYBIL) What did you say to him?

SOMEWHERE p. 97

DRAFT 6

SYBIL:
I didn’t say anything. I asked about Cassandra.

Don’t worry. They’ll be alright. And Eph will smooth things over with Corin.

DIANA:
What’s wrong with him? With his hand?

SYBIL:
I don’t know.

DIANA:
We’re not gonna let them leave, are we? Not when Cassandra’s sick.

SYBIL:
I think we have to if we wanna stay.

DIANA:
Would it be so terrible if we left this place?

SYBIL:
No one’s leaving here.

DIANA:
You’re letting Alexander and Cassandra leave.

SYBIL:
That’s different.

DIANA:
I think we should go with them.

SYBIL:
We’re staying.

DIANA:
Corin’s right. This place is dying, just like everywhere else.

SYBIL:
We’ve got time here.

SYBIL goes to the chalkboard on the porch and
begins to erase her calculations so she can start
over with them. DIANA pursues her.

SOMEWHERE p. 98

DRAFT 6

DIANA:
Is that what your calculations tell you?!

DIANA grabs the eraser from SYBIL. SYBIL
struggles to get the eraser back, but eventually
does.

DIANA:
Wake up, Sybil. They’re a mental placebo. Where did you even get numbers to begin
with? It’s all just math as therapy. It’s a distraction.

Maybe instead of waiting around to die slowly—

SYBIL:
What?! We run to meet it head on? That’s not an option.

DIANA:
Maybe not for you.

DIANA starts to exit.

SYBIL:
I want a baby!

DIANA:
(Shell shocked) Whut?!

SYBIL:
Eph and I…we’ve been trying.

DIANA:
That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.

SYBIL:
More stupid than “planting electronics?”

DIANA:
That’s different.

SYBIL:
Different how?

Maybe I too have an urge. A compulsion. I wanna build a future. I wanna hope.

DIANA:
It’s irresponsible.

SOMEWHERE p. 99

DRAFT 6

SYBIL:
Parenting has always been a risk. We just can see it more clearly now.

DIANA:
You’d condemn a child to this world?

SYBIL:
That’s why we need to stay on the farm. And that’s why I need you. I need you to
find everything you can on pregnancy—on childbirth.

DIANA:
Childbirth without anesthesia. Without a doctor or proper midwife…what if there
are complications?

SYBIL:
Our bodies have been doing this since the dawn of time.

DIANA:
Do you know how many women died in childbirth before the dawn of modern
medicine? A lot.

SYBIL:
I need this. I need to try.

DIANA:
Why?!

SYBIL:
Because you don’t just give up! You plant every seed until one takes root.

I wanna live. Even if it’s just imperfectly.

DIANA:
So do I.

DIANA takes SYBIL’s hand to plead her case.

DIANA:
Come with me. You, me, and Eph. Let’s go. One last adventure. The open
road…motherhood.

You wanna do your crazy thing, well, I wanna do mine. We can either do them alone,
or we can do them together.

SYBIL:
You’re gonna leave me?!

SOMEWHERE p. 100

DRAFT 6

DIANA:
No. I’m gonna ask you to follow.

DIANA exits into the cabin.

SYBIL:
(Panicked) Eph! Eph!

SYBIL exits to find EPH.

Lights shift.

SOMEWHERE p. 101

DRAFT 6

ACT II, SCENE 8

CASSANDRA and ALEXANDER’s campsite.
CASSANDRA is in her sleeping bag, sweating from
her fever. ALEXANDER is constructing a travois
that he intends to attach to his bicycle. Scattered
on the ground are a lot—but not all of the
kaleidoscope—of dead butterflies.

CASSANDRA:
How goes the travois? Now there’s a word you don’t get to use every day. It’s elegant
in its simplicity. The design, not the word. The word is—

ALEXANDER:
French, I think.

CASSANDRA:
Do you really intend to pull me all the way to the coast?

ALEXANDER:
That’s the plan.

CASSANDRA:
Sounds dubious.

ALEXANDER:
But you saw it.

CASSANDRA picks up a dead butterfly.

CASSANDRA:
No arguing with that. (Re butterfly) Though, I don’t recall this in the vision.
Something not right…

ALEXANDER:
Understatement of the millennium.

CASSANDRA:
I’m serious. I didn’t find eggs on any of the leaves. I know they’re behaving oddly,
but…

ALEXANDER:
But what? Everything’s been off kilter lately.

CASSANDRA:
Exactly...What if my visions aren’t as accurate as they used to be?

SOMEWHERE p. 102

DRAFT 6

ALEXANDER:
Don’t do that. Everything else can be out of whack, but I can’t have you doubting
herself. You’re my control—my constant. Let everything else be the variable.

CASSANDRA:
I like it when you speak my language.

CASSANDRA coughs, closes her eyes and lies down.
ALEXANDER watches her.

ALEXANDER:
Sorry I left the aspirin behind.

CASSANDRA:
Who has time for details when you’re storming out to make a point.

ALEXANDER:
That’s not how it happened.

CASSANDRA:
Really?

DIANA enters. She hangs back. With her she has a
backpack.

ALEXANDER:
Alright, maybe that’s 90% accurate.

CASSANDRA:
What about my bike? Are you gonna drag it as well?

ALEXANDER:
We can leave it behind.

DIANA:
Or I can ride it.

ALEXANDER and CASSANDRA turn to see DIANA.
DIANA approaches CASSANDRA and gives her a
canteen of water and an aspirin.

DIANA:
I heard you needed aspirin.

CASSANDRA:
Indeed, I do.

SOMEWHERE p. 103

DRAFT 6

CASSANDRA takes the aspirin. She offers the

canteen to DIANA.

DIANA:
Keep it. You need to stay hydrated.

CASSANDRA:
Thanks.

ALEXANDER:
(To DIANA) What did you mean by that? About riding the bike.

DIANA:
I wanna come with you.

ALEXANDER and CASSANDRA exchange a look.

DIANA:
What was that? What does that look mean?

CASSANDRA:
It means that my brother and I both think that’s a bad idea.

ALEXANDER:
You should stay with your sister. With your family.

DIANA:
Maybe let me decide what’s best for myself.

ALEXANDER:
You’ll regret it. Family should stay together.

DIANA:
You’re wrong. I’d regret it if I stayed. Besides, you’re gonna need help. (Determined)
I wanna do this and you’re gonna let me.

ALEXANDER:
Diana, we don’t know what we’re gonna find at the coast.

DIANA:
I do. We gonna find the Future.

CASSANDRA:
Simple and vague. I like it.

SOMEWHERE p. 104

DRAFT 6

ALEXANDER:
I just want you to be sure. Once we go, we might not make it back.

DIANA:
I understand. This is what I want. I want to move forward. I want to experience
what’s left of this world. Even if it’s dangerous. Even if it’s disappointing.

ALEXANDER:
(To CASSANDRA) Well, it better not be disappointing.

CASSANDRA:
Why are you looking at me?

ALEXANDER:
Because this is your idea. Your plan.

CASSANDRA:
What plan?

ALEXANDER:
(Irked) To follow the butterflies. To find the answer.

CASSANDRA:
I’m sorry, Alexander. I think you’re confused.

ALEXANDER:
You said they had a new migration pattern—that they were gonna find some place
safe.

CASSANDRA:
That was a hypothesis.

ALEXANDER:
Semantics!

CASSANDRA:
And I meant a safe place for them. It doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be safe for us.

ALEXANDER:
Is that some sort of joke?

CASSANDRA:
Actually, it’s the greatest joke ever told.

ALEXANDER:
But I thought—

SOMEWHERE p. 105

DRAFT 6

CASSANDRA:
What?! I’ve always said there’s no way to turn the tide. We had the ability to make
change right up until the point we didn’t. It’s over, brother. We’re over.

ALEXANDER is defeated.

ALEXANDER:
I think I need to take a walk.

CASSANDRA:
What about sundown?

ALEXANDER:
I’ll be back before then.

ALEXANDER exits.

CASSANDRA:
He’ll be alright. He just needs to accept.

DIANA sits down next to CASSANDRA.

DIANA:
What happened to the butterflies?

CASSANDRA:
After the females deposit their eggs, they die. The males have a few more weeks.
They went West. That’s where we’re heading.

CASSANDRA taps DIANA’s backpack.

CASSANDRA:
Whatcha got in there?

DIANA:
The essentials. Clothes, a few canned goods, and this.

DIANA opens her backpack to take out her book
and shows it to CASSANDRA.

CASSANDRA:
(Reading) “The Enchanted April” by Elizabeth von Arnim.

Never heard of it. What’s it about?

SOMEWHERE p. 106

DRAFT 6

DIANA:
Oh, it’s lovely. It’s set in 1920s England. Four women rent a castle in Italy and the
place has a transformative effect on them.

CASSANDRA:
How so?

DIANA:
They become more fully themselves. Happy. Loving. And there’s this lovely story
about an oleander tree. Brigg’s father stuck his cane in the ground to mark the spot
where he wants an oleander tree planted. Time passes and they forget to plant the
tree. But then later they see that the cane has sprouted and it grows into/ an
oleander tree.

CASSANDRA:
/an oleander tree.

I like that. Read me some.

DIANA opens the book. CASSANDRA leans her
head on DIANA’s shoulder.

Lights shift.

SOMEWHERE p. 107

DRAFT 6

ACT II, SCENE 9

Evening. The trench. CORIN sits on a stool next to
the trench wall. The tendrils in his skin are all the
way up his arm.

EPH (off stage):
Corin?

EPH enters the trench.

EPH:
Jesus, Corin. Come on, let’s get you out of here.

EPH moves as if he’s going to pick up CORIN.

CORIN:
Wouldn’t get too close, if I were you.

EPH stops in his tracks.

CORIN:
(Joking) I think I’m gonna need more than a little peroxide.

EPH:
I’m sorry, Corin.

CORIN:
No, I’m sorry. My dad used to say I had a temper. He used to tell me that there are
some things you can change and others that you can’t—you need to learn to
distinguish between the two. Or you’ll be miserable.

I used to think it was the wet winters that made my bones ache, but really it was just
this place calling me home before it was too late. I should have come home sooner.
Then I would have seen him one last time.

EPH:
(Eventually) I should’ve told you about your father.

CORIN:
Yeah, you should’ve.

CORIN looks around at the trench walls.

SOMEWHERE p. 108

DRAFT 6

CORIN:
I loved her. At least, I think I did. And I thought, if she could love me, then we’d have
a reason for living.

EPH:
That’s not how love works.

CORIN:
Now you tell me.

EPH:
(Eventually) Whattya wanna do now, Corin? About this?

CORIN:
I think I wanna let it take its course. Will you stay here with me? I don’t wanna be
alone.

EPH:
You’re not alone. I’m right here with you.

He exhales.

CORIN:
I’m so tired.

EPH:
Then relax. You don’t have to talk.

SYBIL (off stage):
Eph! Eph!

EPH:
Over here!

SYBIL enters.

SYBIL:
Oh, thank gawd.

EPH:
Sweetie, what’s wrong?

SYBIL:
Diana’s leaving. She’s—

SYBIL sees CORIN.

SOMEWHERE p. 109

DRAFT 6

SYBIL:
Corin!

(To EPH) What’s happening to him?

EPH:
I don’t know.


SYBIL:
It’s all falling apart, Eph.

EPH:
No. We’re gonna be alright.

SYBIL:
(Panicked) What about Diana? She’s leaving with Cassandra and Alexander. We have
to go with them.

EPH:
We can’t leave Corin by himself. Not now.

SYBIL:
But—

EPH:
We know where they’re going. The coast, right?

SYBIL:
Yes.

EPH:
Then we’ll follow. We’ll find them. We’ll walk up and down this entire continent to
find them if we have to.

SYBIL:
But…

EPH:
But what?

SYBIL:
I don’t know how to exist without her. She’s always been there. In the same house,
the same town. Filling in the gaps of my memory when it fails. That’s what siblings
do, they stand with their back to yours through this life and see it from a different
angle. They complete the picture when you only see 180 degrees of it.

SOMEWHERE p. 110

DRAFT 6

EPH:
Maybe it’s my turn to stand at your back.

SYBIL:
But who will stand at hers?

EPH:
I dunno.

SYBIL:
She’s family, Eph. We need to be with her.

EPH:
We will be. I promise. We’ll find her and whatever happens, we’ll face it together.

SYBIL nods, holding back tears.

EPH:
Right?

SYBIL:
Right.

EPH holds SYBIL and begins to slow dance as he
sings “Unchained Melody” by The Righteous
Brothers. The song soothes her.

EPH:
(Singing) Oh, my love, my darling
I've hungered for your touch
A long, lonely time
And Time goes by so slowly

And time can do so much
Are you still mine?
I need your love
I need your love
God speed your love to me.

They kiss. Lights shift.

SOMEWHERE p. 111

DRAFT 6

ACT II, SCENE 10

The sound of ocean waves lapping against the
shore. Pre-dawn light. Three figures sleeping on
the beach: CASSANDRA—completely unseen inside
her bag, ALEXANDER—sans sleeping bag, and
DIANA—sleeping in ALEXANDER’s sleeping bag.

DIANA awakens and sits up. Her stirring, awakens
ALEXANDER.

ALEXANDER:
(Sleepy) What’s wrong?

DIANA:
(Drowsy) Nothing’s wrong. I’m just sensitive to light. I can’t sleep unless it’s dark.

The sun’ll be up soon. Should we wake Cassandra?

ALEXANDER:
She’s seen plenty of sunrises, trust me.

DIANA:
But this feels different. Like the sun is rising on a new world.

ALEXANDER:
(Amused) You’ve never broken the rules before, have you?

DIANA:
What?

ALEXANDER:
You’ve always done what you were told. Leaving that farm was the first time you’ve
ever done anything against the grain.

DIANA:
That’s not true. I got my ears pierced when I was a freshman in college because Sybil
didn’t think I would do it.

ALEXANDER:
Defiance can be a good thing. Especially now.

DIANA:
…Are you still mad? That this place isn’t some sort of—I dunno, sanctuary?

SOMEWHERE p. 112

DRAFT 6

ALEXANDER:
I thought Cassandra’s visions were about us—about finding a place that was safe for
us. It’s not easy to contemplate your own death, let alone that of the entire species.

DIANA:
Death gives life meaning. The fact that our lives are finite. It means that every
moment matters. The things we do. Who we love.

ALEXANDER:
What if we love the wrong people?

DIANA:
No such thing.

ALEXANDER:
…I like that.

BEAT as ALEXANDER looks out at the unseen
ocean.

ALEXANDER:
Well, here we are. Cassandra’s vision was right. We made it.

DIANA:
(Sotto voce) Why do you call them visions?

ALEXANDER:
Because that’s what they are.

DIANA:
But…it sounds…

ALEXANDER:
Fantastical?

DIANA:
Yeah.

ALEXANDER:
Cassandra once told me she had science to back up her visions. That sometimes
change isn’t slow. Sometimes, there are jumps in evolution. Not the entire species,
grant you, but a portion of the population suddenly develops new traits.

She can explain it better. Anyway, that’s what she says her visions are. A new trait.

DIANA:

SOMEWHERE p. 113

DRAFT 6

And they come true?

ALEXANDER:
Always.

DIANA:
Yeah, but you guys would have made it to the coast either way.

ALEXANDER:
She saw the truffle farm. The dying trees. “The forest of dead things.”

DIANA:
What else?

ALEXANDER:
She heard the ocean waves. And seagulls.

DIANA:
There aren’t birds anymore.

ALEXANDER:
That’s what she heard. And there was a word.

DIANA:
What word?

ALEXANDER:
I can’t remember exactly.

DIANA pulls her backpack close to her and opens
it. She takes out The Enchanted April.

ALEXANDER:
What’s that?

DIANA:
I’m reading to Cassandra. I brought two books with me.

ALEXANDER:
Ever the librarian.

ALEXANDER takes the book.

ALEXANDER:
(Reading) The Enchanted April. What’s it about?

SOMEWHERE p. 114

DRAFT 6

DIANA:
(Thinking) It’s about how a place can change you.

ALEXANDER:
And the other one?

DIANA takes a slim book from her backpack and
hands it to ALEXANDER.

ALEXANDER:
(Reading) The Book of Questions.

DIANA:
Pablo Neruda.

He flips through the pages.

ALEXANDER:
They’re just questions.

DIANA:
Like the title says.

He reads.

ALEXANDER:
Good choice.

He reads.

DIANA:
Can I ask you a question?

ALEXANDER:
Sure.

DIANA:
The other day—why did Cassandra call you Paris?

ALEXANDER:
It’s my name. Alexander is my middle name.

DIANA:
You don’t like Paris?

SOMEWHERE p. 115

DRAFT 6

ALEXANDER:
It felt like a new era. So why not a new name.

The sound of seagulls squawking overhead. Both
ALEXANDER and DIANA look up at them. They
stand up in their excitement.

DIANA:
(Excited) I don’t believe it.

ALEXANDER:
Like I said, she’s never wrong.

ALEXANDER goes to awaken CASSANDRA. He
shakes the sleeping bag.

ALEXANDER:
Hey, Cassandra. Wake up.

ALEXANDER senses something is off.

ALEXANDER:
Cassandra?

Alexander opens up CASSANDRA’s sleeping bag to
discover his sister has transformed into a
kaleidoscope of monarch butterflies. The
butterflies spiral up into the sky and disappear.

ALEXANDER:
(Eventually) Ascension.

DIANA:
What happened to her?

ALEXANDER:
She…she changed.

He smiles. DIANA moves closer to him. A long
BEAT as they watch the butterflies.

DIANA:
What now?

ALEXANDER:
Let’s just be still for a little while and see what happens.

SOMEWHERE p. 116

DRAFT 6

DIANA:
And then what?

ALEXANDER:
And then we’ll create something new.

He takes her hand and squeezes. The ocean waves
lap. The seagull squawks.

End of Act II. End of play.

SOMEWHERE p. 117

DRAFT 6

RESOURCES

https://www.beforetheflood.com/explore/the-deniers/fact-we-absolutely-can-
solve-the-climate-crisis-today/

The Mathematics of Extinction Across Scales: From Populations to the Biosphere by
Colin J. Carlson, Kevin R. Burgio, Tad A. Dallas, & Wayne M. Getz
https://peerj.com/preprints/3367.pdf

Truffle Cultivation
http://www.truffletree.com/cultivation/

When do truffles grow in Oregon? Can different species of truffles be found at
different times?
Using dogs to harvest truffles at peak ripeness, the harvest seasons for the various
truffles found or grown in Oregon are as follows:
Oregon Winter White: January through April
Oregon Spring White: June-July
Oregon Black: October through July
Oregon Brown: September through January
French Black: December through April
https://oregontrufflefestival.org/faqs/

SOMEWHERE p. A